Case of Chaos
by Sensible One
Summary: Set before the Kira Era. One of L's most interesting cases - an encounter with a very dangerous murderer, who, in a way, was never caught.
1. Games begin

**Death Note:**

**Case of Chaos**

_---_

_It'__s a classic case, really._

_You ask me '_why?_'._

_I ask you '_why not?_'_

_You say '_It's **wrong**_'._

_And I say… '_I'm not exactly a **right** person, Detective_'._

_There's a little bit of evil in everyone -- even you__, I'm sure._

_But I__…_

_I'm _all_ evil._

_---_

**Rating**: **T**een/**M**ature. The story contains descriptions of murders which, for some, may be unpleasant.

I have spent quite an amount of time on research, trying to make everything believable. **Most** of the locations are all real, and so are the names of airports and hotels. Needless to say, I own nothing. I only _use_ them. Some of the facts might be incorrect, but that's what _licentia poetica_ is for.

I hope you will enjoy my game.

-

1

**G**ames Begin

"I'm not crazy."

That's the only thing she'd said as the police officer handcuffed her hands behind her back as four more circled her with guns pointed at her head. The reporters were all over the place, taking pictures and shouting, begging for some kind of statement. However, each and every one of them took a few steps backwards whenever her eyes met theirs and staid an extra feet away until her gaze shifted.

With a person like _that_, you can never be too careful, even if she was surrounded by five policemen, with extra two groups nearby. A total of 25 police officers, armed and ready to shoot at the sight of even the least bit of trouble.

Causing trouble, however, was the last thing she could do at the moment.

The reporters were yelling, cameras flashing, accidental witnesses in hysterics, policemen growling orders to one another. She blocked them all out, closing her eyes and focusing on the steady beating of her heart. Someone in the background demanded to skip the jail and execute her right away. Another voice demanded her to be hanged. Another one, a police officer, shook his head and said she's most likely going to prison for a _long_ time after some tests are ran. Two men directed her towards the police car and pushed her in. One of them followed her inside, the other one went around the car and sat down on her other side. Soon the car was packed with men and she was surrounded. The driver started the car and they drove off, to finally lock the 'psycho girl' up.

It was late evening when the police car slowly came to a stop in front of the Vermont Asylum for the mentally ill. Two guards who were on duty that day, when asked about the ordeal later, said that they were confused as to why the car stopped a few feet before the building instead of driving up to the guards and through the gate, like it should have.

One of the guards decided to see what was going on. He left his partner and walked up to the car, squinting his eyes to see through the window. Only when he was right next to the vehicle did he see what was inside. It made him release a short scream and he took a step back, tripping on a rock and falling down while trying to hold his lunch back in his stomach.

The other guard ran up to him and also looked inside. He later confessed that he's seen a lot throughout his 5-years-old career as a guard in the 'psycho house', but what he'd seen there exceeded everything else.

Nothing could be noticed on the outside, but the inside of the car was dyed red. Everything was red – the steering wheel, the radio, the seats, the back seat, the bars that separated the front from the back, the roof, the floor. And the bodies. The four bodies of policemen were soaked with their own blood.

The second guard's voice shook as he re-told the events of that night. He took a moment to calm himself before he described the bodies. Throats slit. Countless gashes on the chests. One of them, who was sitting in the back on the left, had his inner organs exposed. The other one was missing the eyeballs and ears. The driver's hands were gripping the steering wheel, but were no longer connected to the body.

And everything was red.

And _she_ was not seen by anyone ever since.

-

_Five years later_

"L?"

The detective's head lifted slowly and he threw a glance through his hunched shoulder at Watari, licking off the ice cream from the spoon.

"There is a phone call from detective Ken Anders."

L's face remained blank, though he did feel surprised. Ken Anders was also a detective, living and working in America, and even though he was not in the top ten of the best detectives in the world list (on which L himself was three times, occupying the first, second and third position under different names), he was definitely smart and clever enough not to put shame on himself.

The young man sat on the couch in his usual curled up position for a second longer before standing up and jumping off. Watari handed him the cell phone and L took it between his thumb and index finger. He brought it next to his ear.

"Yes?" he spoke in English, simply out of courtesy; he knew detective Anders, being half-Japanese half-American could speak and understand both languages perfectly.

"L, I need your help. I have discovered something..." Anders' voice was hushed and filled with anxiety "It's about the case of a mass murderer who had disappeared five years ago…" there was a pause "The Nameless Girl." He said it like it was her real name.

L immediately connected it with the right incident. "Caught after killing the commissioner and his wife while the two of them were on a walk, escaped after killing four policemen that were escorting her to Vermont Asylum for psychiatric tests the same day. Is said to be involved with the Delevan family tragedy and the massacre at the Rowland's bar." Then he added, as an afterthought "Suspected to be behind a total of 46 murders. Or more."

"Yes…" Detective Anders breathed out. "That's the one. The Nameless Girl."

The Nameless Girl could be taken as a myth, if it weren't for the bloody proofs she's left to show that she's very much real. She was a ghost. No one could get any information on her, _anything_. Before the police in the city of Brattleboro had arrested her, they didn't even know what she looked like. If the two police officers who had been on duty that fateful night, patrolling the streets, hadn't noticed the bodies of the commissioner and his wife, along with a girl standing next to them with a long sharp knife soaked with blood, she would have probably gotten away that time. Like the time before, and the one prior to that.

But she didn't. She just stood there, staring at the bodies, then looked up at the stunned policemen, a stoic expression on her young face. A few minutes later she was arrested. A few hours later she escaped.

No one knew her. No one ever heard of her or seen her before the murders had taken place. Her _modus operandi_ was simple, and yet no one knew how - the Nameless Girl appeared, did the thing and vanished without a trace. She left people shaken and scared, until she showed up again and killed some more. And pushed innocent people into insanity. The victims were not connected in any way, so no one could predict where she'd strike.

A total of 46 victims in 4 different locations. First on the list was the bar, Rowland's, and although there are rumors that the Nameless Girl had begun to kill earlier, there is no proof. 1 bartender, 4 waitresses, 29 guests. Then there was the Delevan family; 6 people in their own home. After that was the commissioner and his wife, and, in the end, the four policemen who had the worst luck possible to be the ones to escort Miss Nameless to the Asylum.

Having the facts organized in his head, L asked Detective Anders to continue.

-

Detective Ken Anders arrived at the Narita International Airport in the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture, at exactly 00:12. While still at the airport, he called the Mercure Hotel's reception to find out if the room he's booked while being at home (which he missed already) was available at such late hour, since he had arrived earlier than he'd thought. After hearing his room was ready and waiting, he took his suitcase and exited the airport. Outside, he caught the last bus and got off at the right stop. After a few minutes of walking, he finally reached the Mercure Hotel. He came up to the counter and after a moment of the usual formalities, he took the key to his room - number 201- and locked the door behind him. At exactly 6:30 in the morning, room service knocked to wake Mister Anders, just as he wished. When there was no reply, the woman used her own key to come in as Mister Anders insisted on being awoken at that particular hour. One minute later the woman ran down the hall, screaming for help.

The body of Detective Ken Anders laying on his bed with the covers - once pure white, now blood red - thrown around the room will be present in her nightmares for a long time.


	2. Resurfacing

For taking their time and reviewing the first chapter, I would like to thank **MissMomo11**, **mrsLlawliet162** and **XxMichyBabyxX **very much. Extra thanks go to **Jen**, who was awesome and helped me make the decision whether to publish the story or not. Believe me, your vote and opinion matters a great deal.

* * *

2

**R**esurfacing

L bit down on his thumb. The monitor of his laptop illuminated his pale face, making it ghostly white. He had just received a phone call from a 55-years-old, soon-to-be retired Inspector, Ichigawa, who was leading the case of Detective Anders. The _murder_ of Detective Anders.

Detective Anders was found dead in his hotel room at 6:30 in the morning by room service. L had suspected that something was wrong when the man had not called him an hour later, like he was supposed to. He tried contacting Anders only once, but when the man had not picked up, L's suspicion grew. Finally, three and a half hours later, a man introducing himself as Inspector Ichigawa contacted L.

L asked where had Inspector Ichigawa gotten his number from. The man replied that the number Anders used to call L was written down on a piece of paper which was found in the room in plain sight, along with another message.

L waited in front of the computer for the police officers to scan the two papers, so that he could take a look for himself. Knees pressed to his chest, thumb running across his lower lip, he thought. Ken Anders was murdered just when he was about to throw some light on the Nameless Girl's case.

As it was, there was only one suspect unless Ichigawa's team finds something in Anders' room that would prove otherwise. L truly thought the so-called Nameless Girl knew very well Anders was after her and decided to do something about it. The probability was alarmingly high, around 90 percent or so.

The short sound of a new e-mail arriving in his mailbox brought L back into the real world. He clicked on the icon and waited for the pictures to load.

The first one was the photo of Detective Ken Anders after he was found. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and boxers, the clothes he had been sleeping in. The white shirt and gray boxers, along with pure white sheets, beige carpet and matching curtains were soaked with blood. There were big and small spots and slashes of blood across the cream walls, floor and ceiling. The body was not missing any limbs, but was covered with cuts from forehead to ankle. There was a gash on the throat, indicating were the sharp weapon sank the deepest. The whole room which used to be spotless clean, was red.

The next one was the scan of the piece of paper with L's number on it. It was written by Anders, there was no doubt about it. The paper was a small rectangle, 2 centimeters (0,80 inches) and 5 centimeters (2 inches), and was one of the very few things in the room that held not even a drop of blood on it.

The last one was a message written in English. The letters were cut out of different newspapers and glued to a bigger piece of paper. It took approximately 0.2 seconds for L's brain to start analyzing it after his eyes had laid on it

C **0** _**m**_ **3** _and_ P **1** **4** _y_

"A code?" Watari asked from behind the couch. L nodded absent-mindedly.

"The style of mixing letters and numbers to create a sentence, commonly known as '_leet_'. But yes, I do believe this is some kind of code, hidden behind the seemingly childish message, 'Come and Play'." He pointed at the screen "The letters C and P are of the same font and size, undoubtedly from the same newspaper and article title. Also, the letter C looks like it has been glued to the paper and ripped off three times before it was attached properly. The numbers are also the same. The rest is unimportant as the letters M and Y are chosen randomly. 'AND' was cut out as a whole, which tells us whoever had done it didn't care." L bit on his thumb again. "C and P… 0314… We must focus on that."

As Ichigawa's men continued to search the room and interrogate the hotel staff, L decided to check the plane Anders used to fly to Japan. If Miss Nameless was aware Anders knew something he shouldn't have, she could also find out that he wanted to pass the information on. She could follow him… all the way to Japan. All the way to his hotel room. And the likelihood of her using the _exact_ same means of transport was 97 percent.

L hacked into the Narita International Airport computers easily and printed the list of all passengers. Anders' name was in Second Class, and that was where L started searching. At first, he did not see anything. A long list of names, male and female. He was about to start looking up every single one of them, when he saw it.

The same plane, the same class. Four seats behind Anders. _Marianne Cotton_. L was sure that was the one he was looking for.

Mari-anne Cotton.

Mary Ann Cotton. An English serial killer, who had poisoned more than 20 people using arsenic, later arrested and hanged in 1873.

"It seems that our suspect is very sure of herself…" L muttered unconsciously under his breath, staring at the name.

"'_Herself_'?" Watari asked, a slight trace of shock in his voice "Is it a woman?"

"It's still not hundred percent positive, but that is what I assume." L replied calmly before his voice lowered again "She _wants_ to be seen…"

Just to be sure, he checked that 'Marianne Cotton' for any background and, except for the one mention at the Hartness State Airport in Springfield, Vermont, where she most likely used fake documents, there was no other note. Family, addresses, schools, jobs - nothing. Marianne Cotton existed only for a few hours, on the airport and then on the plane. After getting off, she had vanished.

At this point, L had no doubts whatsoever. The Nameless Girl, who picked the name of another female killer as an alias, was in Japan.

-

"L, this is Inspector Ichigawa."

L took the cell phone between his fingers and lifted to his ear. "This is L."

"Did you see the files we've sent?"

"Of course." L took a sip of his over-sugared tea "I also found the code, but I have yet to decipher it."

"Code? What code?" Ichigawa's voce got louder.

"The code in the message 'Come and Play'." L was only faintly surprised the police didn't catch it right away. The message certainly looked harmless enough, a proof that whoever was behind the murder was immature, cocky and could do something careless in the future, assuming he or she (L was almost sure it was the latter) ever would do anything similar again.

The inspector sighed. "What's the code?"

"C and P, 0314."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I have yet to decipher it." L repeated calmly. "Did you find anything else?"

"No, nothing. Only… blood. A lot of blood."

"What about Detective Anders' personal things?"

"There was only his suitcase in the closet, but we searched it. Clothes and the usual, toothbrush, cologne, you know," Ichigawa sighed again "There is nothing that could help us go any further. Except… Except for the code."

L did not reply. Instead, he stared at the monitor, at the message. Come and Play. CP 0314. What could that mean? Come and Play. The Nameless Girl somehow found out Detective Anders had something that could help either him or the police, something that could lead to her past, something that could clear out the thick fog around her. Something important. Something that had to be in Anders' suitcase, but was now gone.

Come and Play.

She killed Anders and left a message. She must have known Anders was going to Japan to meet with someone. Maybe she knew that someone was the famous L. Maybe she didn't. Either way, she did not let Anders nowhere near the person he's contacted. And she took that _something _with her. And left a message.

Come and Play.

"It's not just a message," L spoke quietly to himself, for a second forgetting about the cell phone he was still holding "It's an invitation."

-

"An invitation?" Ichigawa repeated.

"Inspector, have you heard about the Nameless Girl from America?"

"Nameless… oh yes, there were some rumors," the Inspector frowned "But she's most likely dead for five years, if I recall the dates correctly. Why? What does that have to do with-"

"Detective Anders believed he had found some new facts concerning the Nameless Girl; perhaps thanks to whatever he's found, she would no longer stay nameless. Unfortunately, the secret had died along with him, just as the person behind his death wished."

"You think… You think the Nameless Girl came back from the land of the dead after 5 years, followed Anders to Japan and killed him?" even before he finished, Ichigawa knew that it was not as impossible as he made it sound. That didn't make it any less ridiculous, however.

There was a pause on the other end before the mechanical, modified voice came through the speaker in the inspector's private office again.

"It is still not fully confirmed, but yes, that is what I believe." L sounded calm "The suspect left a note inviting us to 'come and play', which means the code must indicate the suspect's location…"

After giving it all a second to think over, Ichigawa had to stop himself from whistling out loud in amazement. He was _good_, that L.

"If you excuse me, Inspector, I require some time to think about it. I will call you back as soon as I crack the code."

"O-of course." Ichigawa barely had the time to finish as the beep indicating that L had hung up rang though the room. The man stared at the phone in silence before leaning back into his chair and rubbing his face with his hands.

One dead man, a contact number to _L_ himself, a message-slash-code and a theory about an American female killer, who desperately wanted to remain nameless, going as far as to tail a detective half across the globe to kill him. And a _lot_ of blood. Ichigawa had worked for the police for over 30 years, but never, during his whole career… during his whole _life_, he had never seen so much blood. And it was everywhere…

The shrill sound of the telephone made him jump in his seat slightly and he immediately felt ashamed. He took a second to compose himself before picking up.

"The C looks like it's been glued to the paper three times before it finally stuck." L's mechanical voice greeted him "It is clearly done on purpose, since all the other letters and numbers are attached perfectly. That means the C is actually a triple C. CP stands for Chiba Prefecture, the widest area. The other two are Chōsei District and Chōnan. **C**hiba, **C**hōsei, **C**hōnan. 0314 - Block 03, apartment 14."

Ichigawa was silent.

"The message is an invitation." L explained calmly "The code is the address. Please send your people. It would be best if they were armed and ready for everything."

He was _damn_ good, that L.


	3. Another message

I would like to thank **XxMichyBabyxX**, **MissMomo11**, **mrsLlawliet162**, **Jen**, **Scarlet-Red-Wings** and **candy-is-epic** for the most wonderful reviews. You rock, ladies. Enjoy the third part of my game.

* * *

3

**A**nother Message

"Still awake, I see."

L did not turn to look at Watari, choosing to take another square of milk chocolate between his fingers and throw it into his mouth instead. He munched on the chocolate for a moment and gulped it down, immediately taking another one.

"I am on a case, Watari. Until it is solved I will not waste time on sleep." He glanced at the old man finally "You know that very well."

"You could use some rest." Watari insisted delicately. He came up to the couch L was sitting on and put the blanket he was holding beside the curled up detective. "Should I bring more chocolate?"

L's wide eyes traveled to the coffee table. There were only three squares left, along with some sugar cubes, an almost untouched pack of doughnuts, candy and an unopened cartoon of ice cream. It should be enough for the next hour or two.

"No, thank you."

Watari nodded. "Very well."

L listened to the sound of the man's footsteps as Watari walked up to the door and stopped briefly. "Goodnight, L."

"Goodnight, Watari."

The door closed softly behind the old man and L was once again alone in the room. He took another piece of chocolate and waited for it to melt on his tongue before swallowing. He threw a fleeting look towards the blanket before turning away from it, facing the set monitors.

All six of them were security camera records from the Narita International Airport with the exact same date as Anders' death. The American detective appeared on monitor 2, his suitcase already in hand. He sat down on one of the chairs and took out his cell phone, dialing the number to - L had already checked that - the Mercure Hotel to confirm his reservation.

L's attention was brought upon the third monitor; a woman was standing in the corner, constantly looking around. She had short black hair, wore sunglasses and a knee-length cream colored coat. Her red suitcase was at her feet, her red handbag was laying right next to it. She reached out - her hands were covered by red leather gloves - and stopped two young girls, who were about to pass her. The two paused their walk and looked at the woman curiously as she spoke something briefly. One of them, a girl with two dark brown pigtails smiled brightly, nodded and raised her hand to check her wristwatch. She told the woman the hour and she and her companion, who had waist-long black hair and was not fully facing the camera walked away, passing Anders, who finished the conversation a minute later.

L narrowed his eyes. The woman acted suspicious, but something was not right. The one who had left the message, 'Come and Play', was without a doubt childish, arrogant and very full of herself, confident in her skills; this woman seemed too nervous, too jumpy, too… L couldn't name that, but he knew that something was _not right_.

Soon enough, his theory was proven correct as the woman he was watching intently grinned broadly and ran straight into the arms of a man, her boyfriend (L assumed it was only a boyfriend from the visible lack of a ring). Everything fell into place and left the detective with a slight feeling of disappointment. Then again, ever since he'd deciphered that message, he knew the opponent will not be easy to catch. She may not be even half as intelligent as L was, but she would not go down without a fight.

Judging from her attitude, she also planned on having fun.

Judging from her sense of humor, the situation could get dangerous.

-

It was way near midnight when a team of 4 skilled police officers, each holding a loaded gun in their hands, approached the door of apartment 14 inside of block 03. There were only 7 blocks in the area and all were numbered, so it was easy to find the right one.

One of the armed policemen rapped on the door shortly. After a few seconds of silence, they nodded to one another and two of them kicked the door down. Guns ready to fire, they entered the apartment.

It was a plain place, a 2-room apartment with a small kitchen area. There was no toilet, since the bathroom was located at the very end of the corridor, being shared by all tenants of the floor. The team split into two pairs, each duet searching a different room.

The first pair had the bigger one, a living room plus kitchen. They found nothing out of place.

The other two policemen entered the smaller room and simultaneously raised their guns, aiming at the chair beside the desk. The combination of the late hour and drawn curtains made the place incredibly dark. There was only on source of light in the room - a small desk lamp which illuminated the whole desk and the front of a figure sitting on the chair, shadowing it's back and everything else.

"Don't move!" one of the men shouted, gathering the attention of the two in the first room. They appeared almost immediately, also having their weapons drawn.

The figure seemed to listen, for it staid frozen in the seat.

Seconds ticked by. The officer who was the closest to the chair, slowly approached the silhouette. Never taking his finger off the trigger, he reached out with his other hand and grabbed the top of the chair's back. The man close to the door out stretched his free hand to look for the light switch and found it. All waited, watching the figure's back intently.

.

Downstairs, Inspector Ichigawa and his assistant, a young rookie named Kuroda, were waiting for the team to come down with whatever they would find. The inspector didn't waste his time however, instead talking to the tenants who lived on the ground floor.

"Excuse me," he asked a man that had just returned from a walk with his dog. The man stopped and smiled politely and Ichigawa "I wanted to ask if you knew anything about the person who lives in apartment 14."

"Fourteen?" the man replied and his eyes lit up "Oh yes, I do know." The inspector held his breath "It's not a person, sir. Fourteen is the Fujimoto' apartment."

"Fujimoto?" the rookie replied, looking at his boss skeptically "Maybe it's the wrong address?"

"What can you tell me about them?" Ichigawa ignored the young man.

"They're really nice neighbors, a married couple and a kid. If I remember right, they'll be living here for… 6 or 7 years now." The man shrugged "I honestly can't say anything bad about them."

"Thank you." Ichigawa nodded at the man and he returned the gesture, walking away.

"Is it possible L might've gotten it wrong?" the young man asked again in a hushed voice. Beside Ichigawa, only Kuroda knew that L was also on the case of Detective Anders' mysterious murder. "Maybe there was no code to begin with?"

The inspector did not reply; instead, he narrowed his eyes and waited for the team.

.

Inside apartment 14 the three officers waited with batted breath as their partner gripped the chair's back and spun it around, making the figure face them. At the same time, the other man turned the light on.

The mannequin's big, emerald green eyes stared at the four men in silence, eyebrows raised in a comical display of surprise and blood red lips pouting, making the expression seem almost taunting.

It was definitely a female mannequin, without the legs and arms. There was only the torso, the head, and a wig dyed in four different colors - black, brown, red and blonde. And something cream-colored duct taped to the middle of her chest. An addressed envelope. Blood red letters written in different styles and in the English language formed --

F O R the **Other** _Detective_

_. _

"I'm gonna step out for a second," Kuroda took out his pack of cigarettes and, after receiving a nod from his boss, he did as he'd said. The young police officer enjoyed the breeze as he put one cigarette between his lips and lightened the end, inhaling the smoke. He leaned against the wall and mused about the case for a while, before a strange noise broke his concentration. The sound was coming from around the corner, so he figured he'd check it out.

Away from the streetlamps, it was hard to see the details, but the sight before him left no room for doubt. Someone was washing their car in the middle of the night. Being a car enthusiast, Kuroda was sure it was a 4-door SUV, Toyota Land Cruiser, either white or light silver, he was not sure. A person was walking around it, pouring water from plastic bins on the hood, roof, doors, wheels and rubbing the bumper and windows with a cloth occasionally. After a few seconds of staring, Kuroda noticed the person was a young woman. He grinned.

"Good evening, miss."

The person froze before straightening up and turning to face the man. She stared at him with a blank face as he smiled charmingly, the cigarette tucked between his lips. The smile was still on his face when the woman appeared right in front of him in what seemed like an instant, not giving him the time to even blink. She took the cigarette out from his mouth and for Kuroda, the world lost all colors and turned pitch black after pressure was applied to the back of his head with precision.

He was lucky. He staid unconscious through the whole ordeal and woke up just before his death. He was sitting on the ground, back leaning against the side of the car, inside of which were three more bodies - bodies of people who were not as lucky as Kuroda, who had just returned from a short road trip and were about to return to their apartment under the number 14; who were awake as the knife slashed their skin and sliced their veins and organs. Along with their bodies, all their material treasures taken straight from said apartment were with them in the trunk. All but their family photo, who was on the desk back at the apartment, in its' cute white frame.

The liquid Kuroda took as water was in fact gasoline and the car was soaked with it. There was a thin trail going from the white or light silver Toyota and stopping at the feet of the woman, who was still holding Kuroda's lit cigarette. After inhaling some smoke and releasing it through her pursed red lips, she threw it uncaringly on the ground, where the lit end connected with the end of the gasoline trail. One spark later the fire ran along the thin line and began to consume the car along with the four bodies.

A few minutes later the explosion took place, luring the Investigator, his 4 policemen and a few tenants out.

She was long gone by then.


	4. Chaos Reigns

A big, big 'thank you' goes to **Scarlet-Red-Wings**, **candy-is-epic** and **Jen**, for commenting on the last chapter. I am so very glad and relieved that the story is liked!

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4

**C**haos Reigns

The next day, Inspector Ichigawa locked himself in his office and refused to go out. With all the files, articles and photos he could gather about the so-called Nameless Girl on his desk and steel-hard determination to catch her, he leaned forward and began to read it all for the umpteenth time.

He did not allow himself to think about Kuroda. The deceased policeman might have been younger and still a rookie, but he was also someone who, if only Ichigawa could spend more time with him in the future, might have become a friend. Ichigawa did everything he could to not remember the young man's bright smile - like every rookie on the job, Kuroda was always excitedly waiting for something to happen - and the jokes he'd cracked despite the situation. Kuroda had a lot of potential. But his smoking habit killed him, a lot faster than lung cancer.

The only semi-good photo Ichigawa could get access to never ceased to both amaze and shock him. It was taken right after the murder of a police officer and his wife, the moment she had been captured and surrounded by policemen and reporters. The girl, turned sideways so that only her profile was available, looked no older than 20, only three years older than one of Ichigawa's daughters. Half of her face was shadowed and blurry, but her eye was visible - the photo was black and white, but the shade indicated her eyes were an intense color. What sent a chill down the man's spine was the fact that the only visible eye was directed straight at the camera, as if staring right at him. Her dark hair was reaching way past her shoulder blades and was heavily messed due to the commotion around her. She wore a light-colored turtleneck sweater which was stained with blood. There also were a few drops of it on her expressionless face, mixing with her own which seeped through the cut on her lower lip.

She looked truly… demonic.

Ichigawa looked through the testimonies of the two guards of Vermont Asylum, who were the first to find the four bodies of Nameless' escorts. Just like with Anders, there was a lot of blood. The report says each policeman had to lose at least two liters, which makes more than 8 liters of blood splattered all around the inside of the car. Ichigawa shuddered.

An hour later, when he was engrossed with the press' speculations about the Nameless Girls' past (all of them had the same theme - that she was from a broken home, had been abused as a child, was cruel to animals _et cetera_), the telephone on his desk rang unexpectedly. Ichigawa glanced at his watch - it read 7:21pm - and picked it up.

"Good evening, Inspector." L's computer-modified voice greeted him "I wanted to call much earlier, but I figured I'd give you some time, considering recent events."

Kuroda's death. Of course. How thoughtful of the great detective.

"Thank you, Detective." Ichigawa uttered without a trace of gratitude.

"But I cannot wait longer. I need to know what did your team find inside apartment 14."

Ichigawa held the phone with his shoulder as he searched for his team's report. He found it and began to read. "The apartment was empty, but they found something they first believed to be the Nam… the perpetrator." Until there was concrete proof, Ichigawa refused to assume the killer was in fact the Nameless Girl, even if she was the only suspect "It turned out it was a female mannequin's torso and head. The eyes were green, the hair was dyed four colors: blonde, red, brown and black. Also, there was an envelope attached to the torso." His voice sounded slightly surprised as he read the last sentence. "It must still be with one of my subordinates. We have not yet opened it." Kuroda's death was currently number one priority, after all. "I think it was addressed 'For the Other Detective'."

"I suppose that would be me." L said unperturbedly "Please send the envelope over. I will send you my current address by fax and expect the package to arrive before midnight, because I will be changing location soon."

"Yes, of course…" Ichigawa agreed before he even thought it over. After all, L _was_ the world's number one detective and the Inspector wasn't as prideful as to not let him help. "Yes, I will send the envelope immediately. But I also have to ask you to send it back once you're finished. It's evidence."

"Naturally. Thank you, Inspector." The detective uttered expressionlessly "I will contact you as soon as anything new arises."

"Thank you." Ichigawa repeated after L, his voice strained with exhaustion.

L hung up. After a few seconds, the Inspector also put the phone down.

-

It took Ichigawa more or less two hours to find and send the envelope to the address L had faxed earlier. The detective had already changed hotels and had Watari bring the package to his new apartment.

The envelope was indeed addressed to him: _For the Other Detective_. L was sure the police had checked it for fingerprints or any other thing that could lead to the killer, but he had to do this his own way. As expected, there was nothing on the manila envelope. The red ink used for the address was just as useless, and so was the handwriting: 'For' was written in capital letters and looked sloppy; 'the' was leaning a bit to the left and seemed casual; 'Other' was plain, bold and underlined and 'Detective' was written nicely in a feminine, elegant handwriting, leaning to the right.

F O R the **Other** _Detective_.

Wasting no more time, L used the paper knife and opened the envelope. He turned it upside-down, holding the corners between his index finger and thumb and away from himself, and dumped the things onto the small round table unceremoniously.

The glass surface of the table protested loudly as a black video tape fell out of the envelope, almost making it shatter. L stared at the tape before he peeked into the envelope. There was a white rectangle inside, but he decided to leave it there for the time being and focus on the tape first.

That girl - or woman, since she should be around 25 years old at present - was either very foolish or very confident to leave a tape behind and addressing it to him. Whatever the reason, it will eventually be her downfall, L was sure of it. He stopped speculating, pushed the tape into the recorder and took a seat on the wide, comfortable armchair, bringing his knees to his chest and taking the half-eaten chocolate bar between his fingers. Getting comfortable, he pushed play.

The first few seconds were silent as the image was blocked by a black curtain. Then, the curtain was taken off in one swift motion and Detective Anders appeared, sitting on the bed inside his room at the Mercure Hotel. His hands were hidden behind his back, no doubt tied up and immobilized.

Anders opened his mouth and hesitated, but must have seen something above the camera that was recording him, because fear and pain lit up his eyes and he looked at the lens and spoke in English.

"She's back." There was a slight pause and the man lifted his eyes again, probably looking at the person behind the camera. _'She is blackmailing him, probably with a photo of his family'_ the thought struck L and was gone in half a second as the show carried on. Anders' expression hardened and he continued, "The child has matured. The one considered dead has been reborn. The one who is chased runs in circles, making you follow. The Nameless has found her Name. Now, _Chaos_ controls you."

He finished the little speech and hung his head. After a heavy sigh, Anders lifted his head again and said his last words, this time in Japanese.

"I'm sorry. I have failed… L."

A small knife came soaring from behind the lens and struck Anders' throat. The man grunted in pain and the black curtain fell.

L did not move. He bit down on his index finger, his wide eyes glued to the monitor. The show did not seem to be over, however. _She_ had yet to leave a signature. Her new name.

As always, the number one detective was right. After about two to three minutes the curtain was lifted once again and, like before, L was greeted by the sight of Anders on his bed. Instead of sitting on the bed, the man was laying on it. And he was dead.

The white shirt he had worn that night was soaked with blood and hauled up, covering his face. The image focused on the detective's broad chest, where a set of cuts was already present. Only seven of them were different - they were very shallow and clearly done with purpose.

That part of the recording lasted 30 seconds and had background music, which was coming from somewhere in the back of the room. The first accords were played and the image cleared out.

The letters were not going from top to bottom, but from left to right - the direction of reading and writing in most countries, but the three signs were of the Japanese katakana alphabet.

The lyrics began: _"She had a corpse under her bed"_

Two cuts formed the letter **Ka**.

"_She had __her fun but now he's dead"_

Three other - **O**.

"_Her momma said come feed desire"_

The last two - **Su**.

CLICK. The music died, the curtain fell. The tape stopped.

She had left her signature. "The Nameless has found her Name."

Her name was Kaosu.

**Chaos**.

.

The room was still and silent as L munched on the second chocolate bar. He suspected the perpetrator - formerly known as Nameless Girl, now going by the name of Kaosu - was aware of the leads she's left in the recording. The first thing was, of course, confirmation. It was indeed the same person who had disappeared from sight five years ago after getting caught by the Brattleboro police and escaping. Miss-No-Longer-Nameless has also made quite clear that she likes to make a show and obviously wanted to be acknowledged. She wanted to make sure they knew who exactly was she. A show-off.

L remembered reading the report concerning Anders' corpse. It said his chest was mutilated violently. She must have erased her signature by erasing the area where it was. Like someone who, instead of using an eraser, decided to scratch the word out using a pencil. Only she had used a sharp knife.

Kaosu indicated she was American and that she must have learnt the Japanese katakana alphabet to some extent. L was not sure if it was only the three letters, the whole alphabet or maybe she could speak Japanese as well, but the fact was she did know some of it.

As for her personality, well, she continued to repeat herself - for a 25-something year woman, she was very childish and yet also quite clever, arrogant and careful. She seemed like the type of person who would rather catch the opportunity as it came than plan things ahead. What made her the most dangerous, L mused, was the lack of rules. She left no connections other than those intentional. She showed them only what she wanted them to see. And she was mocking them openly. Running in circles, making them follow.

As the last piece of chocolate melted in his mouth, L reached for the envelope and took out the note. The detective felt a strange sense of excitement as he slowly unfolded it. Another message from his current opponent, Kaosu; this one looked more promising than the last, three-word-long 'come and play'. L realized he actually _held his breath _as lines of red-inked words greeted his eyes.

-

_Dear Other Detective_

_I may not seem like the intelligent type, but if you're reading this before anyone else, it means that everything's going according to plan. __My__ plan._

_Just wanted to say 'hello'._ _I hope you're in the right mood, because it has begun. __Play the game__._

_I'm running - will you catch me, Detective?_

_Sincerely yours,_

Kaosu

_PS. Burn after reading, please._

L stared at the piece of paper with his thumb between his teeth. After reading the note for the second time very carefully, his eyes stopped at the last line. Burn after reading, please. A sardonic smile appeared on his pale face. _'Depending solely on luck through all those years, with only one slip-up in the form of Detective Anders… An interesting puzzle.'_ L knew better than anyone else that puzzles are meant only to be put together and solved.

"If that is what you ask me to do, Kaosu," he spoke to the paper "I will comply." Kaosu was becoming more brave, making L excited - he truly could not wait for the puzzle to be complete.

Watari entered the room pushing a tray with more sweets for the detective just in time to see said detective was holding a lit up lighter dangerously close to the piece of paper Watari knew to be important evidence.

"L, are you sure you can destroy such important-"

"The envelope was unopened, which means neither the Inspector nor his subordinates know what was in it." L spoke, squinting his eyes at the paper "I will return the tape back, as promised, but this is essential."

Just as he finished speaking, the note went aflame all of a sudden and was gone with a bright flash of pale blue light in a matter of a second. L let go of the corner of the note quickly, successfully avoiding being burnt. He gazed at the spot where the paper used to be a mere second earlier, then reached out and pulled his laptop closer on the table. He opened it and clicked on the Internet browser.

"I'm sure Inspector Ichigawa will not miss it." Watari uttered, coming up to stand behind the couch as L typed. He sniffed and blinked, recognizing the strange smell "So that's why it burned so quickly… Clever."

"There was something written across the note in some kind of invisible ink, detectable only when illuminated from behind. However, the paper was soaked with a flammable liquid. Judging from the faint scent and the color of the flame, I am one hundred percent sure it was methanol." L used only his index fingers while typing "That could mean Kaosu has got either common chemistry knowledge… or access to the Internet."

"Kaosu?"

"Yes. That is the alias of the one I am pursuing."

"Well, did you manage to see the invisible message?" Watari asked, genuinely curious.

"It was a website address."

Watari leaned forward slightly and saw what L pushed the 'enter' button.

www dot playthegame dot com.

"She… she gave you her website address?" this could no longer be called 'bravery'; this was 'madness'.

The screen blinked once and turned black. At the top, white letters and smaller red ones below said:

**CLOSED**

_visit a__t 7 pm only_

"It seems we are too late…" L mused out loud, exiting the page before trying to track it. He could not, but that was to be expected; Kaosu was not online at the moment. L turned the laptop off and reached for a doughnut. He leaned back into the couch and began to eat.

"Watari," he spoke with his mouth full "Please send the tape back along with the envelope to the Inspector."

The old man nodded and put the tape into the envelope before walking away.

L finished the first doughnut and took another one. He could not wait for the next day to come, so he could visit the site dedicated to him at 7 pm _sharp_.

.

Some time later in Inspector Ichigawa's office, the man watched as the black curtain fell upon the screen for the last time.

"Kaosu…" he growled, squeezing his fists. Submitting to the anger he was feeling ever since she killed Kuroda, the inspector got up and threw the TV across the room, making it hit the wall and gain an impressive dent.

-

The funeral of Kuroda Michio came to an end just as the rain began to fall. Inspector Ichigawa opened his umbrella and staid behind as his wife and three children rushed to the car. The man stared down at the now closed casket blankly, his hand gripping the umbrella tightly before he sighed and turned around. There was nothing he could do for Kuroda, except…

Except capturing the one responsible for taking Kuroda's life.

Ichigawa headed towards the car, when something he'd noticed in the corner of his eye made him stop. His youngest daughter, 7-year-old Chiyo, dressed in her warm navy jacket with the hood pulled over her head to protect her from the rain. She was standing under one of the trees, talking to someone. A woman, whose features were hidden under a long, leather black coat. Her face was shadowed by the hood, but her nose and lips were visible. She said something to the little girl, who in turn smiled brightly and nodded, saying something back. The woman smirked. Her lips were a vibrant red color.

"Chiyo!" Ichigawa called out, heading towards his daughter. The girl turned her attention to him, her smile widening. Before he could reach them, the woman turned and walked away briskly, disappearing behind the corner of a building.

"Who was that, Chiyo-chan?" Ichigawa asked, taking his daughter's hand and guiding her towards the car.

"I don't know," she replied "She came up to me and asked if I was your daughter."

"What?" Ichigawa's eyes widened as he paused, making the girl stop as well.

"Mhmm," Chiyo nodded, the smile never leaving her cute face "I said yes, and the nice lady asked me to tell you something,"

The Inspector willed himself to relax. He hadn't seen that woman at the funeral, but it still might have been Kuroda's relative. His family knew where Kuroda works (_worked_, he mentally corrected himself) and who does (_did_) he work with. Work**ed**… He shook his head, crouching down so that he would meet his daughter's eyes on her level.

"What did she ask you to tell me?" he questioned calmly, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"She said that…" Chiyo scrunched her face up in concentration before she gave him another one of her bright smiles "**'Patience is a virtue'**."

Ichigawa paled.

* * *

**A**: _The song used is Rob Zombie's 'House of 1000 Corpses' (a great song for a great movie, I might add)_

_Also, if you know where the title of this chapter came from, bravo._


	5. Encounter

Once again, thank you for the ever loyal **XxMichyBabyxX**, **candy-is-epic** and **mrsLlawliet162**. Double thanks for **Scarlet-Red-Wings** for help with the mistakes! You guys are so awesome in your awesomeness, I can't express it.

* * *

5

**E**ncounter

6:57 PM

L found himself feeling rather bored. After an hour of gathering everything he could find on Kaosu - which resulted in seven sheets of paper, most of the space taken up by detailed descriptions of the murder scenes and victims' backgrounds, along with only one picture of _her_ from a local newspaper. The amount on Kaosu herself was, as it had been in the beginning, practically non-existent. The only solid details were the gender (female), age (23-25 years old) and nationality (American). After seeing the photograph of the female mannequin at apartment 14, L had deduced that, at present, she had green eyes and, as the wig suggested, either dyed her hair quite frequently or used wigs - she could have either blonde, black, brown or red hair at the moment. As for her personality, L could only underline the points he already knew of - bravery, arrogance, immaturity, cruelty. She seemed to believe she can do whatever she wished and will remain free. She believed there was no one worthy being a challenge for her. Well, she was mistaken. At the same time, L had no doubt in his mind that catching her was simply a matter of time. _'At present it is she who drops clues,'_ he mused, taking a large bite of his doughnut _'But she will make a mistake very soon, and even the slightest slip is enough for me.'_

6:59 PM

L's eyes did not move away from the monitor nor did he blink as he finished the doughnut and licked the icing off his long fingers. The website 'playthegame' was still seconds away from opening. Just a few seconds away from a new clue… or, L suspected, something else. Something more.

7:00 PM

The white and red letters faded away and a new set appeared, this time big white letters forming the message --

PLEASE TURN YOUR SPEAKER AND MICROPHONE ON

Below, italicized red and big white letters said --

_Ready…_

_Set…_

_GO!_

The lines faded away into the black background. Then, the screen flashed suddenly, black going to white, then back, and a window opened on its' own accord. A view from an Internet camera.

L could see the end of a wooden desk, a green computer chair next to it and a round red carpet on the floor behind the chair. On the left side, a slice of a bed could be seen, but the covers were missing. The walls were white, but no other furniture was in view, probably moved away from sight. In the back of his mind, L had to give Kaosu some credit - she must have taken the furniture out of the camera's sight so that L could not identify them with any particular hotel. He had been in possibly every hotel in Japan, so he would have recognized the furniture. The computer chair and the red carpet also seemed somewhat out of place. Another half a point on Kaosu's account.

At first, no sound came through the speakers; then, L caught the noise of door shutting and, at the upper right corner of the window, a pair of bare feet and a white hem of a bathrobe appeared. The person crossed the room in only three long strides and took a seat on the chair at the desk. L watched with the thumb already between his teeth.

The person was definitely female, clad in a white fluffy bathrobe that was loosely tied, hugging her figure not too tightly thus hiding it. The visible, V-shaped piece of skin that peeked out from under the hem was a light olive color, a seaside tan hue within. The camera view stopped right below the chin, the face remaining hidden. The woman entwined her slender fingers and rested them next to the computer keyboard. She crossed her legs under the desk.

"Are you L?" the woman's voice was quiet, composed, with a hint of child-like curiosity. She spoke in English, with a clear American accent.

He activated his microphone along with the voice-changing device. "Are you Kaosu?" the detective asked back in the language she used, deciding not to answer any of her questions yet.

"Yes, that's what I call myself now," she said; from the tone of her voice, he deduced she was smiling. He saw the muscles of her neck move as she spoke. No jewelry.

"Why did you contact me?" L finally had the chance to ask the question he really wanted to, and realized too late it was a wrong one.

She did not give him time to correct himself. "Why, I believe _you_ contacted _me_," her voice indicated the smile had widened. Perhaps turned into a smirk.

"I merely followed the clues you had left." His voice was blank. Let her think highly of herself just because she had baited him once. Let her be so full of herself.

"Good job, by the way. I was hoping Anders' little sidekick would prove to be… capable." She paused slightly "Actually, you're not a sidekick, huh? I guess it's the other way round, you being the number one detective and all."

"So you have looked my name up." It was a statement.

"I doubt that 'L' is your name. If you meant the alias, yes, I did look it up. Had to prepare myself, right?"

The camera was raised a few inches, showing the woman's chin and lips. The lipstick she had on was an intense red color, the corner was lifted in a small smirk.

"Would you like to see more?" Kaosu purred, giving him a peek of her straight white teeth.

He remained indifferent. "You must realize that, by leaving so many direct clues, your arrest is only a matter of time."

"I said so in my note that I'm not very intelligent," the blood red lips stretched as the smirk widened "But I'm not very dumb, either. It's not like I, oh, _forgot_ that your number was left on Anders' nightstand in plain sight, _dropped_ my little invitation right next to it, or recorded my performance _accidentally_."

"Then why did you do it?" that also was the question he wanted to find an answer to; luckily, Kaosu was there, in person, to give it to him. No notes, no video tapes.

"Oh? Isn't that obvious by now?" without a warning, Kaosu leaned towards the camera, her whole face in view "I _want_ you to catch me, Detective."

L did not know why her appearance had surprised him so much. He had dealt with a whole lot of criminals, both male and female, and all of them differed in everything, from the crimes, through style of committing them, to appearances. Some were highly unattractive, others quite good-looking. Some had complicated reasons, others were simply insane.

He was right about the eyes.

Although she could not see him like he could see her, Kaosu's vivid dark green eyes were staring right into his black ones. Her arched eyebrows were barely visible beneath the slightly wet stands of reddish hair that clung to her forehead. Her small, a bit flat nose fit in her square face almost perfectly, along with her brilliant red lips. The color of her complexion had the same light olive hue. The slightly wavy, moist red hair fell through her shoulder and reached the surface of the desk upon the sudden movement.

"You want to be caught." L repeated, sounding perfectly unmoved. He would never let her know how her statement had caught him off guard and confused. No, he was supposed to make _her_ feel that way, not the other way around. The moderated voice made him sound more like a robot than an actual human being, a fact which he was quite thankful for.

"Of course I do!" Kaosu grinned. "As much fun as I'm having, I get bored easily and want to end the game when it no longer holds my interest. It's natural. But…" she trailed off, a mischievous glint sparkling in her eyes. "I will not waste the remains of my time being bored."

"I can trace this connection and have your address in no time," L stated boldly, watching her like a hawk, waiting for a reaction.

But she kept smiling. "Oh yes, I have read about that. I wouldn't do that if I were you, however."

His eyebrows rose. Was she attempting to order him around? _Again_? "Why is that?"

"Well, because by the time you have the address and tell um, that policeman who is after me where to go, I'll be long gone."

"That is hardly an obstacle." He countered. "You cannot see me, I might be passing the address right now."

"But you're not." It did not sound like an accusation, not in the least.

"I am curious." He admitted. "Now that there is direct contact. But I am tracing the connection as we speak and will have the address in a matter of seconds."

"Yes, but you will not give it to anyone before I log out."

Yes, she was attempting to order him around. Him, the number one detective in the world. L almost smiled. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because I haven't left you a clue yet." She put her elbows on the desk, her chin resting atop her entwined fingers. "I killed again, Detective."

The boldness of her statement made L blink. He had dealt with a wide variety of criminals, with and without regrets. Cold-blooded killers, who acted like murder was yet another sport discipline. Criminals proud of their work. But she, she said it with such lack of emotion that it still managed to make the detective shift in his seat with interest. She said it like it was no big deal, which for her, it probably wasn't.

It made him want to catch her as soon as possible.

"I killed again, and I can show you where the body is."

"You really aren't very intelligent, are you?" L decided to use a different tactic, to show her that she does not set up any rules in the pursuit. He wanted to anger her, so that she would say something she shouldn't, something she would severely regret and something that will be her downfall. "You think I won't find a person that has gone missing recently?"

Once again surprising the great detective, Kaosu acted oppositely to what his intentions were. She burst into laughter.

"My God, no!" she laughed for a few seconds before calming down, though amusement shone in her green eyes brightly. "No, no, no. I told you I looked you up, didn't I? You're **L**, the _world's number one detective_ - of course you will find anything or anyone if you start searching. That is…" the amusement turned into a devilish flash and all of a sudden, the beautiful woman turned into a sly monster. "If that thing or person **exists**."

L needed only a very short moment to catch on. "You killed an illegal immigrant."

Kaosu's demeanor returned to her previous one and she clapped her hands "Marvelous! I knew you'd be good," she cheered. "Oh L, you truly are the one I was looking for," she purred, leaning in slightly with a coquettish smirk.

L's eyebrows rose, but he did not react in any other way. "So, in exchange for letting you safely log out and move to a different location, you will show me the location of your latest victim."

Kaosu leaned back with a feigned disappointed expression. "Believe me, Detective, I would want nothing more than that, but you see…" she sighed. "I cannot send you a postcard if I don't have the address."

"I will not give it to you."

"And I expected only that. That's why you will promise to wait a bit and I will send my postcard to mister, uh… You know, the Japanese police guy who is after me."

"The Inspector." L supplied; he was certainly _not_ about to give Ichigawa's name to a serial killer. Something told him Kaosu wasn't faking it, that she really had trouble remembering the name; he positively hoped so, or else this intelligent woman would turn out to be an idiot after all.

Her eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, the Inspector, Ichi-something. I have it all written down somewhere." Kaosu made a sheepish face. "I'm not very good at remembering faces and names. I'm lucky that yours is only one letter long," she winked and held up her thumb and index finger in the shape of an L. "Very cool."

Suspicion confirmed. Memorizing names and faces was difficult for her. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"I'm not, Detective," for the first time, the smile slid off her red lips as she stared at the camera lens, straight at L, her expression solemn. "When I promise, I promise." Then the smile returned, but it was small and sad compared to the ones she had sent earlier. "I understand you're wary of trusting a person like me, but I-"

Something in he demeanor snapped and she leaned in once again, lips twisted in an arrogant smirk and eyes narrowed "If you won't, you'll never find that immigrant. And if you won't find him, you won't find the _other_ body. Because it's all _linked_. Besides, even if the police is on it's way, they will never catch me. _I will not get caught_," she hissed out the last part, glaring.

L gave her a few seconds to put herself together. He too had to analyze the sudden change of attitude. From the calm, melancholic state she went near berserk in only half a second. That could be the proof of her mental instability or a personality disorder.

Kaosu sat back with her eyes closed and ran her fingers through her hair, releasing a calming sigh. She glanced to the right, then back at the camera.

"It's late, Detective."

Involuntarily, L glanced at his own clock. 7: 09.

She must have somehow sensed his skepticism. "Remember, I still have to move my things to a different hotel." She grinned cheerily. "Don't worry, though, we'll talk some more if you want. I'm always on at seven. So…" she blew a kiss towards the camera, smirking charmingly. "See you tomorrow," she purred.

The screen went black once again.

-

L was known for his bluffing. Being a detective as famous as he, it was only one of the many assets in his arsenal; and, as all of his assets, this one was perfect.

He had to admit, though, that she was a clever woman. Yes, she did chose one of the more known hotels to stay at, but it was a hotel away from the city center. The hour was convenient, too - with people on their way home from work, it was inevitable for one to get stuck in a traffic jam. Even the police.

He had a laptop connected to the one he'd used for communication long before 7 pm, the tracing program running since 4. He had Kaosu's current _exact_ address, with the hotel name, floor and room number, at about 7:01. And he had sent it to Ichigawa at plus minus 7:02.

However…

A group of policemen arrived at the East Hotel in Yokohama, armed and ready to capture the serial killer known as Kaosu. There was also a searching party scanning the area around the hotel. The team entered the building and went straight upstairs, 4 men going by the elevator while 5 other took the stairs. They used the universal key to open the door and bargained into the room, guns raised.

The room was empty.


	6. Circle

**Scarlet-Red-Wings**, **Jen**, **mrsLlawliet162** and **candy-is-epic** - thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! Also, thank you and congratulations for **anime0angel**, who has cracked the code before it was announced!

* * *

6

**C**ircle

The next day Inspector Ichigawa entered his office with a coffee cup in hand. He took a seat in his comfortable chair and leaned in to glance at the files that came in that morning and froze. A red envelope was sticking out from underneath one of the files. The kanji symbols of his surname were cut out from newspapers. _Ichigawa_. The envelope was not sealed, so, with slightly shaky fingers, the Inspector opened it and took out the photo. He looked at the back, thankful for his understanding of the English language, then flipped it to look at the image. His body went numb, but only for a short while. He dashed out of his office, the picture in his steel grip.

-

With a fruit-flavored gum in his mouth, L held the exact same photograph in his hand a couple hours later, after it was checked thoroughly for any fingerprints and such. Not surprisingly, they found nothing at all. Well, nothing at all on the photograph. The Inspector was clever enough to read and understand both messages - the one in the back and front of the picture. L flipped the photo over again.

_I had a corpse under my bed_

_I had my fun but now he's dead_

_My favorite color is bloody red_

_You're not trying hard enough,_

_and it makes me really sad :(_

_- __Hurry, Detective!_

L flipped it again and looked at the image. It showed the back of the police department building, where the trash containers were. One of them, on which the camera had focused on, was red.

"I immediately went over to it and started searching," Ichigawa said over the phone; L blinked and lifted his cell phone to his ear. "The smell was horrible, but it could be easily taken for garbage. I found four plastic bags which were tied up with a red string. I opened them and…" the Inspector paused, trying to get past the horrible image still fresh in his memory before continuing, his voice indicating that the man was furious "I guess _he_ was too big to fit in one bag, so she had to cut him into pieces."

L said nothing. _'So, this is the _postcard_ you promised to send, Kaosu?'_ he mused, chewing on the gum ferociously _'Hiding a body right under the Inspector's nose…'_ then he realized something - Kaosu had promised him she would send the photo to the Inspector, and that was just what she did.

"Cutting him up was not all she'd done…" Ichigawa's somewhat weak voice interrupted his thoughts "If it's okay with you, L, I'll send the photos and full description right away."

"Please do." L uttered before hanging up. With the cell phone in his fist, he brought the hand to his lips, biting on his thumb. 'Hurry, Detective!', the message said. She was encouraging him to catch her. As crazy as it sounded, L was sure that was exactly what Kaosu had meant. She had said so herself, hadn't she?

"_As much fun as I'm having, I get bored easily and want to end the game."_

He knew that, although she kept referring to it as a 'game' and 'being bored', Kaosu had realized her mistake. First, detective Anders had found out something about her, perhaps it was regarding her past. Her parents' name, address, anything that would lead him to her. To the _old_ her. Instead, Andes chose to contact L and join forces, which caused her to follow him and kill the detective right in front of L. She must have known it was over for her by then.

But she kept running, not because she believed she would run away. She wanted to steal away a few moments, days even, for herself. The chase was still on, and Kaosu was determined to not make it easy for anyone, especially L.

"_I will not waste the remains of my time being bored."_

L had considered giving Ichigawa the website address and tell him to visit it at 7 PM, but Kaosu had thought of that beforehand, earning another point from the detective. After their conversation had come to an end the day before, L tried to access the page from another computer. He had typed in the address, but the only message he'd gotten was 'Page not found'. Tilting his head to the side, he returned to the first laptop and did the same; the screen flashed black and with white and red letters appeared. 'Closed, visit at 7 pm only'. It seemed that the connection was made and the page would not show on any other computer.

The e-mail from Ichigawa came, along with the attached photos. L opened the first one and went through them all, analyzing every detail. The body of the illegal immigrant was indeed cut into pieces. Arms were in one bag; legs were in the other; the torso was sliced up three times and fit the third plastic bad; and finally, the head. All body parts held insignificant cuts and bruises, but the real clue was on the head.

There was a shallow cut in the shape of a circle on the unknown's forehead.

The first thing that came to L's mind was the image of Detective Anders, tied up and held hostage, saying, "The one who is chased runs in circles, making you follow". With one blink the image was gone as the detective's mind continued to investigate the hint. It didn't take long. L's lips curled up in a small smile. What is a distinguishing feature for a circle? The detective could only imagine how much fun Kaosu had while carving that sign on the dead man's forehead. He could imagine her wicked smile. The gleam of her intense green eyes.

He dialed Inspector Ichigawa's number and began talking as soon as the man picked up.

"When you draw a circle, you start at one point, go all the way around and return to the very same point in the end. That is what Kaosu tries to tell us. She sends us back to the beginning."

"The Mercure Hotel," Ichigawa breathed out.

"I believe so." L agreed, hanging up. Without a doubt, the Inspector would gather a team and appear at the hotel in an hour or so. He couldn't help but wonder what would they find. Will Kaosu be sitting on the bed, her legs crossed an hands folded, waiting for them with that smirk on her face? Or will she be ready, taking some of the police officers with her on her way down? Or…

Or was it just a bit too easy?

It was almost 7. L crumpled the empty wrapper and gulped down the chocolate. With the webpage opened, he waited. If Kaosu wouldn't appear this time, he will know the rest. If she would, however…

Things might get even more interesting.

-

7:13 and the page remained blank. L decided to leave the page open for a while longer, just in case. Although he mostly relayed on cold, calculating logic, he had never ignored his instincts. It was the combination of the two that made him who he was.

However, time was running out. Maybe Kaosu would never… When L reached for another lollipop, the screen flashed.

"_Hiii_!" her sing-song voice rang through the speakers. "Missed me?"

L could not hold the dry smile back, thinking of the irony of that statement. He was almost 67 percent sure she would never show up again. And yet, he did not feel the least bit sorry she appeared. Their last encounter had provided a decent amount of entertainment, despite the fact that she was a serial killer and he was the detective pursuing her.

"I'll take that silence as yes, then," she chuckled. This time she was fully dressed in a close-fitting black tank top and, from what L could see, navy jeans. Her hair was not the dark reddish color it had been the night before; it was chocolate brown.

"You're late." L said simply.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," she shrugged "I had people to see, things to do… with them,"

"There is another victim," the detective stated, forefinger between his teeth.

"Of course there is. In case you haven't heard, I'm a _serial killer_," she entwined her fingers and rested her chin on them. "Besides, I told you it won't be easy."

"The Inspector and his team are on their way and I already have your current address." He had noted that it wasn't the Mercure Hotel; then again, he wasn't expecting her to be there.

Kaosu pouted playfully. "I thought you liked me."

L did not bother to reply. He chose to focus on the task at hand, which was to hold her attention for as long as possible. He flipped the cell open and typed her address in a text message, but didn't push the 'send' button, not yet.

He hesitated only for a second before asking the most basic question in the world. "Why are you killing people?" he had to admit that interested him, but he wanted to hear the answer and do a bit of reading between the lines.

She blinked, taken aback, then smiled in a pleasantly surprised way. "Why?" she looked like she waited a long time for someone to ask her that question. "Well, it's a classic case. Really. You ask me '_why?_' and I ask you 'why _not?_'. Then, you state 'it's _wrong_', and I say… 'I'm not exactly a _right_ person, Detective'." She paused, frowning thoughtfully, before the smile returned. "There's this saying that there's a little bit in of evil everyone - even you, I'm sure. But I…" she leaned in with a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes. "I'm _all_ evil, Detective"

She shifted away, once again regaining her playful, impish façade. "I could go on like this, but I won't. I kind of… I enjoy the sound of your voice, even if it's all modified and stuff." She turned serious all of a sudden. "You know… I haven't talked to anyone beside myself in a long time now… I guess that's why I decided to guide you to this page. I wanna talk because I do, you wanna talk because it can help you catch me, it's win-win." Her green eyes settled right on his. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk and maybe that'll turn out to be an answer to your question."

L waited. He could send the address over to the Inspector and the police and have her arrested in practically no time. She would have no idea about them being on their way. He looked down on his cell phone. Not yet.

"I had a friend, whom I hated. Her name was Stacy, and she was my first victim." Kaosu spoke up, no trace of her usual happiness on her face. "I remember it quite clearly, even after all these years. We used to fight over everything. She was what you'd call a 'girly-girl', and used to annoy the living hell out of me. She liked to pick on me, because she had friends, many friends, and I didn't. So, one day, I was walking in the park, and she was sitting there, crying. Later I've learnt that her boyfriend had dumped her, but I didn't know that then. She let her anger out on me and I… _cracked_. And I killed her."

L made a mental note to check the missing person database for anyone named 'Stacy', just in case Kaosu had given him the real name. He also noted that the woman had had a normal past, compared to other serial killers. She had regular problems, with the exception of an unstable character and major mood swings. She had been bullied and eventually decided to solve her problem by killing one of her peers. How old could she be then? 16? 17?

"I was fourteen." She answered his unspoken question. "And pretty damn terrified after. I don't know which was scarier, poor Stacy laying in the bushes strangled and beaten to death, or the feeling it gave me. Thrill. Like jumping off a plane with a parachute, or bungee. It might sound cliché, but it's true - it was a 'you know you're alive' feeling."

Another note - Stacy had to be fourteen or over when she was murdered. L mentally scribbled the piece of information down and decided to wait with checking it after she was finished.

"I was so horrified that I decided to never do that again, ever. The pleasant feeling lasted too short for my liking and then I had to take care of Stacy's body. I wasn't stupid enough to just leave her there, with my fingerprints all over. So I dug a hole under the bushes and buried her there, trying to keep myself from throwing up. And I was a good girl ever since." Her face darkened and a small smirk stretched her red lips. "Until about a year later, when I killed a mini-team of soccer players."

She was bipolar, there was no doubt about it. She was overly confident in her abilities, had extreme mood swings with no provocation and was easily angered. L deduced she needed very little sleep as well. Although she was speaking quite fast and made it hard for him to interrupt - if he was planning on that, that is - there were no signs of a thought disorder, as her speech was clear and perfectly understandable. She also did not seem to have depression. Whatever Kaosu had been suffering from, she was not a sane person, of that there was no doubt. Even if she could act like a normal human being. _'There is no cure for the so-called Evil Gene,'_ L mused.

Kaosu stretched her hands above her head and feigned a yawn. "Wow, I never would've guessed talking could make me so tired," she said in an exhausted voice. "So? Where are the guys now?"

"Probably at the point where all had begun."

"Oh, good! I wonder how long will it take from then… But," she grinned the foxy grin again "Knowing what you're capable of, I'll bet it won't be long."

His cell phone rang. L glanced at the caller ID - it was Inspector Ichigawa - and frowned. "Excuse me for a moment," he said to Kaosu, who smiled almost giddily in response. He turned the microphone off and flipped the phone open, holding it in his usual manner. "Hello?"

"L! We are at the Mercure Hotel, at the same room Anders was murdered and it's… It's empty!"

L's eyes narrowed. "Empty?"

"Yes! The receptionist said the room was occupied by a married pair on their honeymoon, and that they left this afternoon! **Kaosu is not here**!"

L said nothing.

"My team is searching the room and the whole hotel thoroughly, but there is no sign of her! She tricked us!"

"I'll call you back, Inspector," L shut the phone closed and turned to the screen, where Kaosu was sitting on her chair grinning like an innocent and excited young girl. "You lied."

"What?" she frowned at him. "I didn't! I told you to go back to the beginning!"

"The police had gone to the Mercure Hotel and it's-"

"WHERE?" her demeanor changed once more; she slammed her hands down on the desk and shook her head exasperatedly. "What fucking hotel?!"

"The one where Detective Anders was found." L said simply, only slightly surprised by her outburst.

"No, no, **no**!" she shook her head again, chocolate brown hair whipping her face gently. "_That_ didn't start _there_! God, they fucked up. _You_ fucked up."

He did not let her bait him.

"C'mon, great Detective, think! What was the _first thing_ I'd done after arriving in Japan?"

The pause lasted only a nanosecond. "You killed-"

"**No**!" she interrupted exasperatedly. "Before that! Like, a few **hours** before!"

"You…" L's eyes widened as realization hit, almost knocking him off the couch. "You got off the plane."

Kaosu's face brightened and she clapped "Splendid! _I got off the plane_." Her fingers ran through her brown hair pointedly, raising her eyebrow. "You get it _now_?"

L was speechless, probably for the very first time in his life. How could he missed something so basic was beyond him. _'She has got a nasty tendency to do things right under one's nose… and get away with it.'_ At that moment, L was thankful more than ever she could not see his expression.

"Well, get to work, Detective!" with one last wink, she turned the camera off, leaving L alone with his injured pride.

He shook himself out of the stupor and dashed towards the set of screens where he had watched the camera recordings from the Narita Airport a few days before. He found the recordings and turned them on to watch them again.

Detective Anders appeared on screen 2, sitting on the chair and talking through his cell phone. The woman L was suspicious of when he first saw the video was on screen 3, looking around. Soon, she reached out and stopped the two young girls to ask for the hour. One of them had brown pigtails and a cheery personality. The other had almost waist long black hair and was not facing the camera as of yet. As the two turned to leave, they passed Anders, who was still on the phone, asking for his room at the Mercure Hotel.

The other girl was Kaosu.

'_How could I _not_ see her?'_ L could not help but think. Her hair was a bit longer and dyed black, but her face was strikingly familiar. Maybe it was because L had seen Kaosu twice. But how could he not notice a young Japanese girl walking with and talking to a young-looking American woman? How could he have overlooked her?

He picked the Inspector's number and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

"Inspector," he began quickly. "The point of the beginning is not at the Mercure Hotel."

"But whe-"

"It's at the Narita International Airport."

L hung up.

In the back of his head, deep down, he could almost hear Kaosu's laughter.

-

Ichigawa's men entered the airport a little before 8 PM and, perfectly on cue, a woman's shrill scream sounded from the direction of the bathrooms. The men ignored the sign indicating that the bathroom - ladies only - was out of service and bargained in with their weapons ready. The woman who screamed tumbled into the arms of one of the police officers, crying and pointing at one of the closed cabins. Someone's sneakers-clad feet were visible from the thin space between the door and the floor. A steadily growing pool of blood was right next to the left foot.

Ichigawa entered the bathroom and pushed his way through. He saw the blood and squeezed his fists before unclenching them and pushing the door. They opened easily.

The girl's empty dark brown eyes stared right into Ichigawas' as blood flown from the thick cut on her throat, soaked her white shirt and dripped from her fingertips on the floor. She had no other wounds except for that one. Her dark brown pigtails were tinted red.


	7. Onslaught

Seeing people try and solve the little mysteries I've created is the most rewarding experience, as I've learnt over the past few chapters. I'd like to thank, for the **x**th time, the following:

**mrsLlawliet162**, **MissMomo11**, **Aki.X596**, **Violet Masen-Clearwater**, **Jen** and **candy-is-epic**

for their constant support and motivation.

* * *

7

**O**nslaught

"The victim's name is Takashi Hitomi, a 16-year-old schoolgirl who had returned to Japan after a two-week long holiday in the United States. She has been found at around 8 PM, but specialists predict she was murdered at least an hour earlier. There are no witnesses, but after watching the video recordings from the day Takashi Hitomi had gotten off the plane 5 days ago, she was seen with a woman. The police had not yet identified the perpetrator, but we will air the main suspect's photograph right now." The female reporter vanished and a full-sized picture of Kaosu appeared on screen.

It was a blurry screenshot from the camera record. She was walking with Takashi Hitomi, but the camera was zoomed to focus on her face. Her complexion was a tone or two lighter than what L had seen. Her hair was pitch black and her lips were not red, but light pink. The light make-up made her look a few years younger, which made it easy to mistake her for Hitomi's friend.

"Anyone who is able to recognize this person is asked to contact the police right away."

Watari turned the TV off. He set the remote control on the table and threw a glance at L, who was curled up in an armchair with his thumb brushing against his lips. His eyes were wide open and unmoving.

"L…" the old man said with a hint of worry. "What now?"

"Her photo is in the newspapers and on TV," the detective stated after a second of silence. "Inspector Ichigawa and his men will have to deal with people calling them, declaring that they have seen Kaosu at some point. It will not be helpful, not in the least," then he remembered something. "Watari," he called, fishing something out of the pocket of his pants. "Could you do some research for me?"

"Of course," the man took the piece of paper and walked over to one of the computers. "Is it a name of her victim?"

"Her first victim, yes," L said, remembering the melancholic-like state Kaosu was in when she was telling him that story.

Watari nodded and began his search. L sat back deeper into the armchair, trying to put the pieces together. The case was going disappointingly slow and he had trouble telling whose fault was it. He thought he was hot on her tail, and then the woman who calls herself Kaosu goes and proves him wrong, again. It was beginning to be frustrating.

After half an hour of fruitless thinking, L reached for his cell phone and was about to call Inspector Ichigawa to discuss the latest event, when Watari spoke up.

"Stacy Ward, age 15, went missing ten years ago."

L's head perked up. "Where did she live?"

"In Trenton, New Jersey. Her parents called the police when she had not returned home by midnight and they could not reach her. The search lasted a few months, but eventually, the police turned out to be helpless in finding her. She was not seen since."

"She was fifteen… One year older than Kaosu." L muttered before addressing Watari, "Check her school and show me every photo you can find."

The man nodded again and after a few seconds, Stacy Ward's school photograph popped out. As expected, Kaosu was not on it. Watari picked the pictures of one year younger students. Kaosu was not on them either.

"She is not on her class photo or was attending a different school," L mused. However, after searching every school in the city of Trenton, he did not found a 14 year old girl that could be Kaosu.

"So she was absent that day." He stated. "Remarkable luck."

"You believe it was all luck?" Watari questioned.

"At such early stage, yes, it must have been. She was absent on the day the photographs had been taken, and a few days later, she killed Stacy Ward."

"A fourteen year old killer…" Watari suppressed a shudder, instead shaking his head sadly. "Unbelievable."

'_Remarkable luck,'_ L repeated mentally. _'But now she's done relaying on it alone. You know I will catch you, Kaosu, but the question is… When?'_

-

L could not believe it. He had so many clues - so many! - and yet, he had nothing. It felt like Kaosu was staring at him with that intense green, expectant gaze, grinning like a kid, sitting right next to him and being out of reach at the same time. Inches, mere inches away. He reached out to grab her and she scooted away teasingly, laughing. As if it all was a game.

A game…

play the game dot com.

"You're _still_ here?" Kaosu's teasing smile greeted him. "You know, for the greatest detective, you're pretty slow."

The other laptop, the one he had been using to track her location with, beeped suddenly. He shifted his attention towards it and his eyes widened slightly.

_**Error**__._

_Page not found._

'_Getting better at clearing your tracks, are you, Kaosu?'_ the detective traced his lips with his thumb. _'No matter. You may outsmart a computer, but you will never outsmart me.'_

"There is only one way your situation can end, Kaosu," L uttered calmly after a short pause. "I will catch you."

"I never thought otherwise. It's just… I'm at the end of the road, Detective. My creative streak is slowly coming to an end, _just like this case should have_," her pretty face twisted into an angry expression. "But you're all so fucking **slow**…"

"You seem frustrated," L decided to push her further.

"I _**am**_!" she slammed her hands on the table and pushed her chair back, leaning closer to the camera. Her sleeveless shirt was low-cut and showed a bit of her lacy black bra. "I am frustrated, because a serial killer is on the loose, and no one's doing _anything_!"

"That serial killer," L continued in his calm, unmoved tone. "Is you."

Kaosu stared at the camera lens, straight into L's eyes. His wandered a little down, eyeing the skin of her chest the top was not covering. The small piece of her bra.

"Detective," Kaosu spoke calmer than before. "I warn you - if you won't do something soon, I'll disappear, becoming the Nameless Girl once again. I will not be quiet, but you will never hear from me."

And suddenly, she slumped, sighing tiredly and running a hand through her dark blonde hair. She did an emotional 180 degree turn on him, just like that.

"I didn't mean to threaten you… I'm sorry." Another sigh. "I really do feel frustrated, I guess…"

"It is unusual for a killer wishing to be caught." The detective admitted after a few seconds of silence.

"Uh huh," she breathed, a tired smile sprouting on her blood red lips. "I always was a little… how did you put it? Ah, _unusual_. That's a pretty word for 'fucked up', right?" she chuckled softly. "Detective… You are…"

Her eyes lit up unexpectedly as her full vigor returned in the blink of an eye. "Hey, hey!" she called out, her voice on the verge of breaking with cheery laughter. "Is your TV on? Turn it on, now!"

L did not question her demand - he simply took the remote control and turned the TV on. Just in time to see the broadcast from Sakura TV concerning the unknown killer of Takahashi Hitomi… and, according to some mysterious files, several others.

"The files were delivered to the Sakura TV at around 6:55 PM and brought some light upon the case of Takahashi-san's murder."

'_She understands Japanese,'_ L noted, hearing the reporter's clear Japanese and Kaosu's excited expression.

"According to them, the perpetrator is also suspected of committing more murders. The number reaches seven victims and consists of Takahashi Hitomi, an unknown illegal immigrant, police officer Kuroda, the Fujimoto family and American detective Ken Anders. On an attached note, there are hints of murders committed outside of Japan. The police forces remain silent about it and deny comments."

"Ha!" Kaosu cried out in triumph. "They deny commenting! Of course, what would they say?" she laughed again.

"Kaosu," L spoke. "Do you understand Japanese?"

"Huh? Oh, a little bit. I can say a few words too, but I can't read for shit," she chuckled again. "As if you people couldn't use the same letters like the rest of the world."

"Nice bra."

Kaosu blinked, caught off guard. Then, surprisingly, a slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she stared at the camera, too stunned to say anything. She regained her composure shortly and smirked coyly, fluttering her eyelids.

"Why, Detective," she purred seductively. "If that wasn't a _direct hit_, I don't know what is."

L's lips twitched upwards, and he immediately asked himself why. Finding no answer, he continued, "It is a very popular model at the moment, sold in only one place in Japan. You had bought it in one of the stores in Kyoto where you are at the moment. It appears to be quite expensive, so there is a slight possibility that you had used a credit card to purchase it. If so, you had to leave a name. Even if it's a false name, which I expect, if you use only one credit card bearing that one false name, it would be very easy to spot you, making you a moving-sitting-duck, so to speak. I can create a list of all your whereabouts, which could prove to be a strong lead."

With a feeling of deep, smooth satisfaction, the greatest detective sat back and enjoyed the mixture of expressions reflecting upon her face.

-

Kaosu was left speechless once again. She sat in an uncomfortable chair, in front of her laptop, staring at the tiny build-in camera with wide eyes. _'That Detective…'_ she thought, her awe overcoming the shock. All of a sudden, she strongly wished she could see his face, no matter what.

"I suppose," her voice was still a bit shaky and she cleared her throat. "I suppose you would see it ridiculous - incredibly idiotic, even - if I asked you to turn your camera on for a moment, wouldn't you?"

The other end was silent as she stared at the blank screen of her laptop, not expecting anything at all.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, L spoke.

"If I did that, it is you who would think of me as an idiot."

"As if you care what _**I**_ think," Kaosu shot back half-heartedly. "I'm a _serial killer_, remember? It doesn't matter what I do until I kill someone."

"It does to me."

Her eyebrows shot up, and so did the temperature of her face.

"As a detective and your pursuer, everything you do matters. Everything you do is important, everything is connected."

Connected. The list of her whereabouts. The page address. The room whirled around before her eyes, making her dizzy.

"Kaosu?"

Oh yes. He could see her. He watched her. Kaosu shook her head, making the world stop spinning, but now everything was double.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm feeling a bit… _Uh_,"

"What is it?" after a second, he added. "Am I getting too close?" it sounded like he was correcting himself.

"Wha? Oh, yes, yes you are." Kaosu managed a weak smile. _'He sees me. He sees me like this. He cannot see me. I have to… I have to…'_ "You are getting closer, Detective, just… do what you do and everything will be…"

'_Fine.'_

"Everything will go according to your plan." She finished, sounding much stronger than she felt. "Until next time, Detective."

She logged out.

15 minutes later, Kaosu was on the streets of Kyoto, swaggering through the small crowds, desperate to regain the control that had somehow slipped out from her firm grasp. _He_ had taken the control from her.

Another 10 minutes later she had found her control somewhere near the hotel she was currently staying at. She regained her control by taking it from someone else.

The man was found a while afterwards and was identified as Hideyoshi Satoru. The ghostly paleness of his skin and the slit throat indicated death by blood loss. Other wounds on his body were done after his death as they did not bleed intensively. Whoever had done it wanted to silence the victim first, before giving in to the pure rage and confusion.

However, the body was found a few hours too late. Kaosu was already on her way to Tokyo with a strange sensation at the pit of her stomach. She stared through the window, not seeing anything through the curtain of red that was over her vision, her hands clenching the fabric of her pants and relaxing every now and then.


	8. Randomless

**Violet Masen-Clearwater**, **Aki.X596**, **candy-is-epic**, **mrsLlawliet162** and **Scarlet-Red-Wings**

- You never cease to amaze me. Thank you!

Also, Happy New Year to all!

* * *

8

**R**andomless

L added another sugar cube at the top of the small tower on his table. He paused his construction to type in something on his laptop before taking another cube and setting it atop the tower. The tower wobbled a little, but staid vertical.

Something was bothering him, but frustratingly enough, he could not name that 'thing'.

"L," Watari approached him, holding a cup of tea. He set the drink on the table, next to the sugar tower.

"Thank you, Watari," L uttered, taking another sugar cube and putting it on top of the others.

A sudden thought hit him; after finding out about Stacy Ward, Watari had searched the 'missing person' database again, this time looking for another 14-year-old girl, but not one of them had matched Kaosu's appearance in more than 10-20 percent, not in New Jersey nor the closest states.

That did not mean Kaosu was, in fact, a ghost. It meant that she had reached adulthood without drawing suspicion to herself… until she killed that police inspector and his wife in Vermont. _Then _she really became a ghost.

The results came. L shifted closer to the computer. He had compared three guest lists at three hotels he knew Kaosu was staying at - the Mercure in Narita, East Hotel in Yokohama and Alpha Hotel in Kyoto. He searched for the same guests' names, looking for a match.

He found a few.

Without looking, L tried to put another sugar cube on the tower, but it collapsed under his fingers.

_Adam and Mari Carson_

_Simon Raine_

_Hannah Delaware_

_Suguru Yoshinaka_

_Doris Jones_

'_So, it's either Hannah Delaware or Doris Jones.'_ He mused, the sugar cube still between his index finger and thumb. He began to twirl it.

'Doris Jones' seemed a bit obvious, but L was not about to let Kaosu slide through right before his eyes again. He checked that name first, and found that Miss Jones was in fact a secretary, recently moved to Japan and was looking for a job, hence her traveling from one hotel to another. After leaving Yokohama, she came to Kyoto and had been staying at the Alpha for four days. She was still there.

Hannah Delaware, on the other hand, had absolutely no background. Except for a list of all the places her credit card and ID were used. Ignoring the names of stores and restaurants, L focused on the list of hotels.

Mercure

Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel

The Lutherian

East Hotel

Tower Annex

Holiday Inn

Aravert

Alpha

Park Lane

The last one was her current hiding place, with another name at the very bottom with a sign that said 'reservation'. Ginza Nikko in Tokyo.

'_What do those hotels have in common?'_ he brought the sugar cube to his lips. _'Beside being chosen by Kaosu?'_ that thought made him pause. Being chosen. _'Did she really __**choose**__ the hotels, or was it just a random pick? If the latter, then this is meaningless. But if not…'_

He looked at the list again. Then at the fallen sugar tower.

Was it a part of the **game**, too?

Everything was a part of the game. Even something as seemingly random as the hotels she'd picked. Everything.

And L was playing the game. But if he wanted to win, he would have to do it in his next move. Being the type of person who was not very fond of losing, L decided to do just that.

Within a matter of minutes, he had put the pieces together, quite literally, and reached for his mobile phone to call Inspector Ichigawa. To inform him to gather his team and as many people as possible, and to go capture Kaosu, this time for sure.

He had to wait four beeps before the Inspector picked up. Ignoring, but not missing the strange tone in the man's voice, the detective began to talk.

-

_A few __moments earlier._

It was frustrating, to say the least, that the serial killer he was pursuing was all over the news, after all the hard work he and his team had to do to keep the case under the radar. The media had found out about Hitomi, that much was inevitable, but those files sent straight to the Sakura TV? That made him furious.

He had realized whose fault was that. It was Kaosu, wanting to steal a bit of spotlight for herself. Who else would have done such a thing? And who else but her knew everything about the victims beside the police? She faked the documents and sent them over to the Sakura TV, to…

Inspector Ichigawa frowned and clenched his jaws. To **create chaos**.

He shook his head, ridding himself of the most negative emotions, and entered his house. He greeted his wife and hugged his youngest daughter, who, as always, came down running into his arms. His two other children were already at the table, waiting for dinner.

After a delicious meal and some family talk, he excused himself and went straight to the bedroom. He had a major headache and could do nothing about it. Painkillers were useless, he had learnt that years ago. To get rid of the headache, the troublesome case must come to an end. After undoing the belt with his hostler and gun attached and putting it on the nightstand, the man sat down on the bed heavily. He felt the chilly wind against his neck and thanked his wife for keeping the window open.

"Pleasant evening, isn't it?"

Ichigawa's blood froze in his veins. Out of instinct, he threw himself to the side, outstretching his arm to grab his gun. But the weapon he had put on the nightstand a second ago wasn't there.

It was in Kaosu's hand, pointed at him.

"Shh," she smiled gently, her Japanese fluent and clear. "We don't want to alarm the rest of the family, do we?"

"Damn you," Ichigawa spat, not moving from the bed.

She did not stop smiling. "Maybe later, Inspector. Now, I'd like to discuss something with you."

"If you want to kill me, do it now," Ichigawa hissed. "But leave my family out of this!"

"Hush!" she scolded him, then put on a surprised expression. "Kill you? Gosh, why would I do that? You're playing the game, after all."

"Game? What game?!" his heart was hammering in his chest, but he kept his voice down; not because she asked him to, but he did not want to drag his family into the mess. God only knows what would she do to them…

"My game, Inspector. Now," she lowered the gun, but the barrel was still pointed at him. He watched her intently, saw how her brilliant green eyes clouded over and the blood red smile slowly slipped away. "I am forced to ask a favor from you."

"A… favor?" he could hardly believe his ears.

She told him everything and he listened.

"You… You're **mad**!" Ichigawa could not contain his anger. He shot up from the bed and turned to face her fully, his finger pointed at her. "You're crazy! What you're asking me to do is… No! I would never-"

"Honey? Is everything alright?" his wife's concerned voice rang from somewhere outside the door. Ichigawa froze. Kaosu's eyes slid over to the door, her face blank.

"Go on, tell her," she whispered. "Tell her that a serial killer is in your bedroom, pointing a gun at you. When she dashes in, she will see the nice, polite young lady who had sold her a beautiful bouquet of flowers this afternoon. It will be the last thing she will see, I promise."

It took every ounce of self-control for him not to jump over the bed and strangle her with his bare hands, regardless of the fact that she had his gun in her hand, her finger resting lightly on the trigger. However, he saw her intense gaze directed at the door and thought of all the bodies he'd seen, the bodies of her victims… and his wife…

He wouldn't let _that_ happen.

"I'm fine," he shouted back. "Just did some talking out loud,"

"You crazy cop," the woman joked and walked away. Ichigawa relaxed ever so slightly as he heard her footsteps fade away.

"_You crazy cop_." He returned his attention to Kaosu, who was smiling once again. "I'm crazy too, aren't I? It's all good."

"What flowers?" he asked, making sure to keep his voice low.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just in the neighborhood earlier today and decided to visit your family." Her lips stretched into a grin. "I sold your wife some flowers, met your little girl… Chiyo, isn't it? Very cute. And Rena and Satoshi too. What a beautiful family you got there, Inspector."

"How… how dare you…!"

"I could have killed them all."

That made him freeze.

"I could have killed them and disappear, leaving you in misery. I could have slaughtered them like I've slaughtered all the others. But I didn't. You want to know why?"

She gave him a second to reply, but when he didn't she carried on. "Because I wanted to ask you to do something for me, in exchange for keeping your family away from my toys."

"I will never-"

"Are the lives of the ones close to you not a high price? Inspector," she narrowed her eyebrows at him, growing impatient. "Do not make me regret that."

"But I cannot do that!" Ichigawa uttered.

"Yes, you _can_. After that you're retiring and can be happy with the people I did not kill." She sighed. "After that… The game ends."

"Kaosu…" Ichigawa said before he could stop himself.

The woman smiled at him. "You are an excellent Inspector, but I can tell you're tired. Just like I am. So…" all of a sudden, she threw the gun on the bed. "Are you ready to end it?"

He stared at the gun, at her, then back at the weapon. Finally, he lifted his eyes to meet her green ones. Slowly, he nodded.

A couple seconds later his cell phone rang. It took him a moment to regain his composure before picking up. It was L.

.

Eight police cars and a helicopter were on their way towards the **East 21 Hotel** in Tokyo almost immediately after the conversation with the detective had ended.

With her next and final move foreseen by L, Kaosu was trapped.


	9. Showdown

Thank you, **Violet Masen-Clearwater**, **Scarlet-Red-Wings**, **Aki.X596**, **sublina**, **mrsLlawliet162**, **XxMichyBabyxX** and, last but not least, **candy-is-epic** (hah, added you just in time!) for their support and lovely, long reviews! Enjoy the ninth chapter and await the tenth, which is the final chapter of this story!

* * *

**Note:** According to my research, the East 21 Hotel is 21-storey high and there are a Japanese Restaurant and Sushi bar and a Cocktail Lounge at the top floor. However, I must ask you to ignore this fact and pretend that above all that, there is a flat roof. Thank you.

* * *

9

**S**howdown

"_I am forced to ask a favor from you."_

"_A… favor?" _

_She told him._

"_B-but, Kaosu," Ichigawa couldn't help but utter after she briefly described that 'favor'. "Why?"_

"_What do you mean 'why'?" she giggled, much like a schoolgirl… much like his oldest daughter. "Think beyond that little act of yours and imagine what impact will it have on this whole play of mine!" she giggled again, this time a bit more maniacally. "It's going to be quite __**crushing**__."_

_This time, she gave him more details. The whole scene was so surreal, he couldn't take it any more._

"_You… You're __**mad**__! You're crazy! What you're asking me to do is… No! I would never-"_

_But Ichigawa was not the type of cop that puts his job before everything else, like the policemen you see in movies or read about in books. He was passionate about justice and determined to put criminals before it. However, there was something that he would pick over his job any time, and that was his family. He would do everything for them. Everything._

_After the call from L and arranging the chase towards the location pointed by the detective, Ichigawa walked out of the bedroom and into the hall. There, on the bureau right next to the phone, stood a light green, decorated with a leave-pattern vase. In it, there was a bouquet of blood red roses._

-

The woman known as Hannah Delaware, a young businesswoman on a journey through Japan, threw herself on the single bed at the hotel she was currently staying at. She knew it was stupid to use the same documents everywhere, leaving the name behind her, but she couldn't help herself. After all, she wanted them to catch her. She wanted _him_ to catch her.

Kaosu laid on the bed for a short while before she rolled over and hopped off. It was her last and final stop. If L failed to catch her, no one ever will.

It was the world's last chance.

She felt restless. Pacing around the available space worked up to some point, but after growing tired of it, she fished a notebook from her bag and flipped it open. It was the very same thing she had taken out of Detective Anders' suitcase so many days ago and rearranged the contents to her liking, adding and removing things, ripping pages and gluing photos. She wanted it to look nice; it was a present, after all. After finishing up, she hid it somewhere in the room, just as planned. There was only one person, who could find it. Only one person, who could then pass it to another person, a very famous yet mysterious person.

She grinned as she hid the notebook. She wished she'd be able to see L's face when he would get it. She wished she would see his face at all.

She threw herself on the bed and within the next 30 seconds was fast asleep.

Kaosu woke up abruptly. Her eyes snapped open and she shot up, alarmed. Something was not right, she could sense it. The woman got off the bed and ran over to the window.

Her eyes widened as she gazed down at the bright, blinking lights. At least four police cars were pulling to a stop in front of the hotel entrance, two more passing by to circle the building.

'_He did it.'_ she thought fervently, a wide grin stretching her red lips. _'He fucking did it, that bastard.'_

Heart hammering in her chest, Kaosu twirled around and skipped to her laptop which was on the table. She waited a few seconds for it to load and typed in a code before snapping it shut. She grabbed the laptop and threw it against the wall with so much force it shattered into pieces, beyond repair. Then, she reached for the light switcher and flickered it once before taking her shoes and running out of the room, not caring to lock the door.

-

The cars circled the hotel in no time, armed policemen were at every entrance, waiting. Three other officers were inside the helicopter, which was hovering over the roof of East 21. The helicopter was requested by Inspector Ichigawa exclusively, his reason being 'the murderer is not sane' and 'ready for everything'. The leader of the team glanced out at the empty roof, his rifle ready at his side. Then, he spotted something.

"To the left!" he shouted to the pilot. "**Left**!"

-

Inspector Ichigawa was sitting in his car, waiting. He finished his semi-warm coffee and glanced at the watch. 6:47 PM. He looked up again, just in time to see the light in one of the rooms go off and on quickly. He threw the empty paper cup on the back seat and started the engine. He thought of nothing.

-

Seconds ticked by, but L's cell phone was dead quiet. No message from Inspector Ichigawa, not since the detective had called to give him Kaosu's location. L found himself glancing at the list of the other hotels she'd visited, still feeling a bit impressed. Just as he'd thought, the places were not picked accidentally. No, at that point, Kaosu could not rely solely on luck any more, could she?

Mercure

Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel

Lutherian

East Hotel

Tower Annex

Holiday Inn

Aravert

Alpha

Park Lane

Ginza Nikko

It had looked very random, until L looked at the first letters of the hotels' names.

MYLETHAAPG

After rearranging them a little, the mocking message made L's eyebrows ride up.

PLAYTHEGAM

PLAY THE GAM

The missing letter was E. And there was only one hotel in Tokyo which name started with that letter.

East 21.

It was then L had called the Inspector and told him where to position his men so that Kaosu would be caught off guard, with nowhere to run.

The screen of his laptop blinked, bringing L's attention at the monitor. The website 'playthegame' was completely blank, but all of a sudden, a window popped out. His eyes widened ever so slightly as his teeth squeezed on his thumbnail.

Kaosu was smiling at L from the other side of the Internet, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

-

"_You have a lovely house, Chiyo-chan," she said__ smiling down at the girl as the two of them walked from a nearby primary school to the Ichigawa household._

"_Thank you!" the girl beamed and bowed politely, not even thinking about how did that woman know such things._

"_However…" the woman continued, her gentle smile slowly transforming into a smirk that she tried to hide. "The hall… It looks a little, you know…"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Unadorned. Yes, that's it. It's unadorned, Chiyo-chan."_

"_Unadorned?" the girl blinked. "What does that mean, Su-chan?"_

_Kaosu knelt down in front of the confused Chiyo and could not contain the smirk any more. "It means," she ruffled her hair a little. "That it needs some _flowers_."_

.

"_Mommy?"_

"_Yes, dear?" Mrs. Ichigawa glanced through her shoulder at her youngest daughter as she put aside another cleaned plate._

"_Don't you think our hall is a little too… unadorned?"_

"_Un… Unadorned?" the woman chuckled. "Where did you learn that word, honey?"_

_Chiyo simply grinned. "A secret."_

"_A secret, huh? Well then, can you at least tell me why do you think so?"_

_The girl shrugged. "I think it needs some flowers. Then it would look pretty."_

_Mrs. Ichigawa shook her head with a smile as she was done with the dishes. The doorbell rang just as she was wiping her hands. Wondering who could that be, the woman made her way to the door and opened it, her curious eyes meeting a pair of gleaming green ones above about a dozen of red roses._

"_Good afternoon! Would you like to buy this beautiful bouquet?"_

.

She was slightly out of breath by the time she reached the roof. She stood in plain sight, staring up at the helicopter. It was causing noise, too much noise, and she had to force herself to not cover her ears. Instead, she stood straight, watching the machine, her loose hair dancing in the wind.

Five police cars were at the main entrance, on the south. Two more were on the west, and the last one was near the emergency exit. No sign of the police at the back. She was facing south. Ripping her eyes away from the helicopter which was hovering almost exactly in front of her, she glanced down. _'Audience,'_ she thought with a small smirk as she noticed the amount of people, who were staring back at her.

The smirk never leaving her face, Kaosu took a step back, then another. She kept backing off, her green eyes set on the helicopter. She saw the police officers inside the flying machine ready their weapons and point them at her. The ones from the ground began to talk, demanding her to surrender. She understood him perfectly.

Her smirk widened as she could almost hear the terrified people down there, watching the edge of the roof and waiting, thinking and screaming,

"**She's going to jump!**"

-

"Greetings, great Detective L," Kaosu grinned, doing a mock-salute. "No, no, please. Don't say 'hi' back. Unfortunately, this is only a recording. So, if you're watching this, that means my laptop is in pieces somewhere, which means I will not use it again, which means we won't get to talk anymore." She leaned back slightly, frowning. "Which is quite saddening. I really liked our conversations. Well, anyway," she smiled again. "Congratulations. This is an emergency video I thought I would never use, but I did. I ran as fast as I could, but you caught on and left me behind."

After a short pause, she continued. "However, I made a promise. Remember? I promised to have fun, which I had. Lots of it, actually. And it's all thanks to you." She blew a kiss towards the camera. "But I also promised something else. That _I will not get caught by the police_."

L watched the screen intently.

A bright smile appeared on her pretty face. "Hey, remember Detective Anders? He was awfully close. So close that he'd burnt himself, quite fatally. He had gotten to know me, the old me, I mean. I couldn't let someone who had my whole background in his hands run around, could I? No, no. So I killed him. But before that, remember what I've said? What I've made him say?"

He was pretty sure he'd never forget any of her messages. Not because they were horrifying or cruel. No, they were also interesting.

"Good times." Her eyes found his again and she grew serous. "You truly are Number One, Detective. I'm glad our paths crossed. If I could, I'd thank Detective Anders for leading me to you. I regret only one thing; that we did not meet face to face. But perhaps we will?"

A soft sigh, then back to being cheerful. "You have played my game and won. If we'd stick to the rules - any rules, really - I would be forced to surrender and let myself get caught. Now, a silly thought might pass your head, 'but you're already caught, Kaosu!'. Oh no, my dear Detective. Didn't I teach you anything?"

Kaosu leaned in, her green eyes staring intently straight into his wide, black ones, the fire behind them burning with passion as she spoke in a clear, quiet voice. "You **don't** control Chaos."

A pause.

"Chaos… controls… **you**."

-

The helicopter was a few feet above the roof, but the three armed men jumped out of it, landing heavily right in front of Kaosu. She watched them like a hawk, continuing to walk backwards.

"Stop!" one of them called out, trying to break through the noise of the wind. She sent him a smirk in response and continued to back away from them and the helicopter, as calmly and steadily as before.

"Stop or we'll fire!" the other man shouted.

She finally stopped, right at the edge of the building. Her heels were no longer connected to the solid ground of the rooftop.

"Don't move!" the third one ordered. They started walking towards her slowly, waiting for the slightest sign of aggression. She did not move. They were only a few feet away when the woman opened her mouth and spoke in Japanese, loud and clear despite the deafening sound of the helicopter above their heads.

"I will **not**," she said slowly and clearly, her eyes shifting from one man to another "**Get caught.**"

The men didn't have the time to blink as her body toppled over backwards. The serial killer Kaosu, also known as the Nameless Girl, took a fast trip down, passing 21 storeys of East 21 Hotel on her way.

The blood red, trademark smirk never left her face as she gazed at the men, who were leaning over the edge, staring at her with astonishment.

Exactly five seconds later, a hidden bomb exploded on the rooftop, destroying the helicopter and killing five men; the three that jumped off and the duo that remained inside the machine.

-

The policemen that staid on the ground gathered at the back of the hotel. The bodies of three men, who were pushed off by the impact of the explosion, were found immediately.

The body of Kaosu was missing.


	10. Over

At last, the **final chapter** of _'Case of Chaos'_ is here! I'd like to warmly thank the wonderful Reviewers of the last chapter:

**Violet Masen-Clearwater**, **Aki.X596**, **Scarlet-Red-Wings**, **XxMichyBabyxX**, **Ray-nee-chan**, **MissMomo11** and **mrsLlawliet162**.

I'd also like to express my appreciation to people who've added the story to their Favorite or Alert (_or both!_) Lists.

But most of all, the biggest THANK YOU dedicated to the people who have stuck with me to the end, both Reviewers and Silent Readers alike. So, thank you all and have fun with the last chapter of this case!

And, yes, Kaosu's real surname is a reference to the protagonist of the movie _The Ninth Gate_. That's in case anyone would've asked. :)

* * *

10

**O**ver

(epilogue)

A week had passed.

The news reports were silent about the serial killer that had murdered so many people merely a few days before. The young female reporter on Sakura TV stated that the criminal known as Kaosu had been surrounded by the police and had jumped off the East 21 Hotel's rooftop, but was very vague when it came to details. Kaosu's death was never sated for a fact, but it was the only option, after hearing that she had fallen off the East 21 Hotel.

In a way, Kaosu was never caught.

Just like she had promised.

Even though her body was not found, the hotel was searched thoroughly and all visitors and staff questioned. The blood collected from the ground was tested and the results were satisfying enough; the DNA did not match any of the three men that had fallen down after the bomb exploded. It had to be Kaosu's blood.

The case was considered closed.

L was sitting on the couch in his usual manner, eating ice cream from a glass bowl, when his cell phone rang. It didn't ring since Inspector Ichigawa had called to tell him what had happened. L had found it strange that the man could not tell him any more than he had already figured out on his own, plus the things the TV had aired shortly after the 'tragic incident atop the East 21 Hotel'.

"L," the Inspector spoke as soon as the detective picked up. He sounded exhausted, gloomy and… guilty.

"What is it?" L asked, but he already had an idea.

Ichigawa was silent for a short while before a sharp intake of breath could be heard. What he said next both confirmed L's suspicions and still managed to surprise him at the same time.

"I know where **she** is."

-

Inspector Ichigawa was leaning against one of the trees, waiting. L had agreed to meet him (_meet_ him! The greatest detective was about to come personally!) outside the forest, a few hours away from Tokyo. His eyes scanned the empty road, but his mind was somewhere else.

The evening Kaosu had visited him so boldly was clear, as if it happened yesterday. She had managed to climb through the open window in his own bedroom, that fact will probably never cease to horrify and amaze him. She had acted recklessly, to say the least, not only letting him see her face, but also engaging into a conversation. That was the shortest way possible to being arrested.

And yet, she came.

But she had a trump card, a _very good one_, too.

After she had left, the same way she'd come in, Ichigawa walked up to his wife and asked her about the flowers he had just noticed in the hallway.

"Oh, aren't they lovely?" she had smiled. "I bought them from a lady this afternoon. It was really strange, because Chiyo had suggested putting some flowers there, claiming it looked too plain, too 'unadorned'. I never heard her use that word before! And then, the next minute, this pretty young woman shows up at our doorstep, asking if I'd like to buy those roses. They were beautiful and cheap, so I didn't think twice about it. She suggested she would help, so I asked her to put the flowers in the vase on the bureau, right next to the phone."

After that, Ichigawa had gone up to his youngest daughter's room. He had asked her if the woman from the funeral was the same who brought flowers.

Her face had brightened up immediately.

"Yes! It was her, it was miss Su-chan!"

"Su…chan?"

"Uh huh! I asked her about her name the second time we've bumped into each other."

"_Second_? Chiyo-chan, how many times have you seen this woman?"

The little girl had thought for a while before smiling again "A few, maybe four. One, two… yes, four! First," she had brought up her index finger. "was at the funeral. She was all mysterious and stuff, but very nice, too. Second," her middle finger had gone up. "when I was walking home from school. I tripped and fell, and Su-chan helped me! It hurt and I wanted to cry, but she hugged me and told me it's okay, so I didn't. She asked for my name and I said I'm Chiyo, and asked her for hers. She said to call her Su-chan and walked with me for a bit."

"What did she talk about?"

"Uh, nothing much. She asked a lot. About my school, my grades. But then I asked if she knew you, and she said yes, she does. I thought she's working with you or something, but she laughed. She had a nice laugh. She said she only plays the game with you. I asked her what kind of game." Chiyo had looked at her father with big, excited eyes. "She said you two are playing _catch_."

Chiyo had also revealed that she'd seen 'Su-chan' twice after that - again while the girl was walking home from school and at the park, where Chiyo had been attacked by an older boy, because she had supposedly 'walked into his territory'. Chiyo had told him about how 'Su-chan' walked up to them and defended the girl. "She said he won't bother me or _anyone else_ anymore," his daughter had uttered. "And I never saw him again."

Ichigawa had checked the database and found a 12-year-old boy found dead near the shore of Lake Okutama. There was a suicide note under a rock, and his body held no signs of fight, no bruises, no cuts. The police had classified it as suicide and the matter was closed. He had shown Chiyo the boy's picture - the one when he was alive, naturally - and she had confirmed it was the bully who attacked her.

The suicide note was either fake, or the boy was forced to write it. Kaosu had killed a kid, who had threatened his daughter.

Just then had Ichigawa realized that she could kill his whole family if she wished. But she hadn't, and there was only one reason why. She needed him to do something for her.

After thinking it over several times, he had agreed. Mainly because of his family, the way Kaosu had threatened then without letting them know. She had befriended his youngest daughter, giving herself numerous opportunities to take the life of the Inspector's child. Bud she hadn't. And he decided to honor that by agreeing to her request. She was insane, yes, but being in her debt, however bizarre that sounded, was unthinkable. So, when he agreed, he meant it.

He would never admit it before himself or anyone else at that matter, but, under all the disgust and hate he had felt towards the serial killer, there was a small spark of something akin to respect for her skills. The planning, the manipulation, the deception. It was a long time since Ichigawa had faced such a worthy opponent. She had been within reach all that time, being so obvious they all had missed her.

And, in the end, Ichigawa did not manage to catch her. Moreover, she had made him help her escape, so to speak.

The look in her eyes when she almost pleaded him to do it… He'd never think a person like her would -

"Inspector?"

Ichigawa snapped out to see a strange figure before him. The voice was definitely male, but the person was hidden beneath a long, knee-length coat with wrinkled jeans and worn sneakers peaking out. The high collar was up and his face was concealed with a white _tanuki_ mask. Ichigawa could make out a few raven black stands of hair, but other than that, everything about the person was perfectly covered. The person's hands were stuffed into the pockets and the silhouette was hunched slightly. He lifted his head a notch, hidden eyes flashing.

During that second, Ichigawa felt oddly intimidated. "Are you-"

"Yes." The person replied quickly, not letting him finish. _'So, this is L…' _Ichigawa mused, eyeing the masked man up and down. Of course, self-preservation was only natural.

"Please take me there." L spoke, making Ichigawa focus again. The older man nodded solemnly and entered the forest, with L close behind. They walked for more or less 15 minutes in complete silence before Ichigawa stopped in front of a fallen tree, turning around to face L.

"She had asked me to give you," he fished an A6 format notebook from the inside pocket of his coat. "_This_."

L took the notebook, looking at it with curiosity. He had been expecting a final note from Kaosu, but a whole notebook? Interesting.

"She wanted you to know everything before you face her." The Inspector paused briefly as the detective eyed the item intently. "Please don't ask me why have I done what I've done. She's…" he gestured behind himself. "Right there. But I… I have to go." The man extended his hand with a small smile. "It was an honor to work with you, L."

The great detective did not take his hand; he didn't even look at it. Ichigawa's lips quirked and he lowered his hand. With one last curt nod, he walked away, leaving L alone in the forest with the notebook.

L sat down on top of the fallen tree's trunk and stared at the plain cover of the small notebook, trying to figure out what could be inside. Some photos, by the looks of it, and more than likely that last note L was waiting for. _'If she wants me to know,'_ he mused. _'Then it must be at least a part of her history.'_

He opened the notebook.

The first few pages had photos glued to them. All of them were of Kaosu, but had been taken before she became Kaosu, or even Nameless Girl. They had been taken when she was just a regular girl from a regular world, with regular hobbies.

The first one was a family photo - a little girl in the middle, green-eyed, brown-haired and not smiling. At her sides, two adults figures of parents. The top of the photo was ripped off, making the image stop at the beginning of their necks. L estimated her age to be between 10 and 12. He turned the page. Another photo, Kaosu sitting on a swing. There was a small, subtle smile this time, but other than that, she still looked bored and detached. Another picture - a little older Kaosu, around 15 years old, with her school uniform covered with mud and dirt, a soccer ball in her hands. Another one - standing with her back against a tree, arms crossed, slight make up; she must've been around 17 years old. On the next page, Kaosu was smiling at him with a glass of an amber liquid in her hand and a smirk on her face. This time L knew full well where that photo had been taken - Rowland's bar had not lasted too long after that picture. Kaosu had dropped by there again and murdered 34 people. L flipped the page and stared at the last photo. It was dark, already after sunset by the looks of the background. Kaosu's silhouette was barely visible among the trees, where she was standing.

The pictures were not picked accidentally, L was sure of it. It wouldn't be like her to do something meaningless. He flipped through two blank pages and found the reason behind the photos. Articles cut out from different newspapers, from local ones to the more known. The important lines were marked with a pink highlighter.

'A dog found in the woods just outside Trenton, New Jersey. It's throat wounds might have had been caused by a bigger wild animal.'

'15-year-old Stacy Ward declared missing'

'8 boys (age 11-16) disappear after a soccer match.'

'After their son vanished a week ago, his parents commit suicide.'

'The child had vanished while playing hide-and-seek. He was found dead 4 days later.'

'The massacre at Rowland's bar. 34 people found dead, no witnesses.'

'A family of 6 attacked in their own home. No signs of a break-in, no witnesses.'

'Inspector Sanderson and his wife attacked in public. After receiving multiple stab wounds, both died of blood loss.'

L flipped the page. More articles.

'The female monster caught right after her last act!'

'The Nameless Girl in justice's hands.'

'After killing 4 police officers, the Nameless Girl escapes!'

'NAMELESS GIRL ON THE LOOSE'

On the last page of the notebook, L found an envelope glued to it. A big, vibrant red 'L' was written on it. L fingered the letter and discovered that she had used a lipstick, the same shade she'd had on during their conversations over the Internet. He opened the envelope and took out the paper from inside. He unfolded it and began to read.

_Dearest Detective,_

_I am so happy you're reading this! The Inspector (I couldn't remember his name to the very __**end**__!) promised he'd give you this after the game ends. After all, that's the only way to pay off his debt._

_The stuff you're holding are the last piece of the puzzle - just put it where it should be and solve the case properly. See, I didn't want to leave you hanging, but then again, I'm not so sure you would not do anything that is within your power to complete the pieces by yourself. So, think of it as a gift, in exchange for the most fun game I've __ever__ played. The thrill was actually comparable to the one I get when I 'do my thing', you know? I never knew running was so much fun._

_Alas, all games come to a stop, just as all puzzles are solved at one point. This game appears to be finished, and the letter you__'re reading is the finish line._

_I hope you realize that I have kept my promise._

_I did not get caught._

_Now, turn the page for the last time. Solve the puzzle. End the game._

_Forever yours and yours only,_

_Kaosu._

_Chaos._

The white piece of paper swayed in the wind. L tightened his grip a little to prevent it from flying away. His hand felt cold. He folded the letter after a while and put it back into the envelope which was glued to the page of the notebook. After neatly closing it, he flipped the page, for the last time, as Kaosu had put it.

It was a photo, but it was different from the rest. It was a picture of a vast graveyard, with the image focused on one particular, ornamented gravestone. The names engraved on it belonged to Detective Ken Anders' parents. The other graves were artistically blurred out. Below the picture, something was written in a pink highlighter.

'_**The real beginning'**_

-

Inspector Ichigawa was sitting on his bed, twirling the small piece of paper in his hands. He had meant to throw it away, tear into pieces and burn it, but…

_Inspector__,_

_For everything you have agreed on doing for me, thank you._

_I have to say it is quite surprising that, although my aim was to make you feel __threatened by my presence around those close to you, I have grown fond of your youngest daughter. I cannot remember the last time I've felt attached to another human being, other than the ones that died soon after my visit. Truth be told, I've had my eyes set on your family as soon as I heard you're on my case. But I chose not to kill them - do not mistake it as 'compassion'. Everything I've done around your family had only one goal - to make you help me._

_And you did. For that, I thank you._

_I __will not ask you to give little Chiyo my regards. But, if she asks about me one day, please answer. Tell her our game had ended. That I had won._

_Sincerely,_

_K._

Ichigawa crumpled the letter once again in his fist. The wind whipped at his back, making him turn around. The window was opened yet again, just like it had been during that memorable encounter with the criminal Ichigawa decided to help.

He had helped a criminal, one of the most dangerous criminals he ever encountered. He helped her, because she spared his family. If it weren't for the fact that Ichigawa was retiring in two weeks, he'd probably have to quit.

The door opened and his youngest daughter peeked inside.

"Daddy?" Chiyo called out shyly, seeing her father's expression.

Ichigawa lifted his gaze from the crumpled paper to the little girls' eyes, but said nothing. The girl walked up to him, her curious stare traveling all over his face. "What's wrong, daddy?"

He did not reply; instead, he pulled her closer and hugged tightly.

-

With the notebook tucked securely under his arm, L stared down at the simple round, light gray stone. Anyone else would've passed it without the slightest ounce of interest, but that was because they would not have any idea what the stone really was.

It was the gravestone of one of the most dangerous human beings of the century. The girl without a name and past, recently known as Kaosu, Chaos.

"You had been a formidable opponent," L spoke quietly towards the lifeless stone before turning and walking off.

Within the next few hours, L had everything put together. He had deduced that Kaosu had done something, probably involving Ichigawa's close family, to force him to help her. The Inspector had not been at the East 21 hotel nor anywhere near, according to the records. He must've been there _unofficially_. After all, someone had to collect the body. Her body.

With the photo of Anders' parents' grave in hand, L accessed the Internet and soon connected everything that was not yet together.

-

_It was quite a chilly afternoon. Ken Detective Anders stood before his parents' grave after cleaning it up and putting fresh flowers. Beside him, there was only one person at the graveyard, a young female whose back was facing him. The graves she was facing were obviously unattended, covered with fallen leaves, dirt and __a withered bouquet. She made no movement to change it. She just stood there. It was her business whether to clean the graves or not, of course, but something about her was… off. Anders could not name it, but he kept glancing at her back from time to time._

_It was when she moved slightly, revealing the profile of her face, did the detective recognize her from the newspapers' photographs. She looked older and slightly different, but Anders had an outstanding photographic memory._

"_Nameless…" he whispered, too stunned to think about his actions. In a flash her head turned to look straight at him, her green eyes wide. Both of them stood as still as the statues before, in the exact same time, the woman bolted towards the exit gate, the man hot on her tail._

_Two elderly people appeared at the entrance, making the woman change directions suddenly. She seemed to have absolutely no problem in jumping from grave to grave, stepping on flowers and kicking the candles. Anders followed her, choosing to stay on the path, but she was fast. She headed straight for the tall wall which surrounded the graveyard. The woman jumped onto another grave and climbed on the big stone cross that loomed over it, Anders had to pause as he watched her climb on the cross and jumped at the wall, landing safely on top of it. She threw one last look at the detective a few meters below her and jumped down, vanishing from sight._

_Anders could swear the last look she gave him was analytical, as if she wanted to memorize every detail of his face. There was also something else, something Anders later realized to be mockery._

_The feeling of defeat dissolved as soon as he remembered something. He turned and walked briskly towards the unattended graves - where she used to stand mere minutes ago._

_With the names engraved in his brain just as they were engraved in the stone, Anders entered his apartment and turned the computer on. He had the 'Nameless Girl's complete biography some time later, and dialed a number he was given a long time ago. He thought he'd never use it, but he knew he had no other choice. His own life was on the line now._

"_L, I need your help. I have discovered something..."_

-

Kaosu had started killing at the age of 12. Until her death at 24, she had killed 66 people, and a dog. A clever monster.

A clever monster that, in the end, had managed to escape justice, slipping right through its' fingers.

L whispered her real name. He repeated it, louder, so that it echoed through the empty, spacious room.

Deep down inside, he too wished he had met her face to face.

He had visited Kaosu's grave only once more, about a month later after the 'case of chaos' had ended. It was the last time he'd been there, before criminals started dying of heart attacks all over the world, making L throw himself into another interesting case.

It was '_Kira_'s turn to be chased by the number one detective.

**CASE OF CHAOS**

**END**

**

* * *

**

**PS. **I had been toying with the idea of adding one last paragraph that would describe a certain _green-eyed woman_ boarding a plane, but the situation is already pretty uncertain. If you wish to believe that Kaosu had died and that her last wish was to be buried by Ichigawa, by all means do so. But remember I have not stated that clearly. So, you are free to interpret whatever you want.

I guess that intensifies the mystery, right?


End file.
